RUE    PORTE    NEUVE. 


WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA 


Written  anfc  Illustrate?) 


BY 


FREDERICK    ARTHUR    BRIDGMAN 


NEW    YORK 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS,    FRANKLIN    SQUARE 

l  890 


UNIV.  OF  CALIF.  LIBRARY.  LOS  ANGELES 


Copyright,  1889,  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS. 

All  rights  reserved. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  THE  "WHITE  DOVE" i 

II.  THE  STRANGERS'  QUARTER 8 

III.  POPULAR  ALGIERS 18 

IV.  THE  PEOPLE 22 

V..  COSTUMES  AND  CUSTOMS 28 

VI.  NEIGHBORS 36 

VII.  THE  STREETS 45 

VIII.  INCIDENTAL  CHARACTERIZATION 48 

IX.  WHERE  I  PITCHED  MY  EASEL 55 

X.  THE  MOSQUES      62 

XI.  MOSLEM  SHRINES  AND  LAW  COURTS   . 71 

XII.  A  FESTIVAL 78 

XIII.  THE  NEGRO  COMMUNITY 91 

XIV.  To  LA  TRAPPE 100 

XV.  IN  THE  BATHS 105 

XVI.  A  TRIP  TO  TLEMCEN 109 

XVII.  AT  TLEMCEN 117 

XVIII.  WANDERINGS  IN  THE  TOWN 125 

XIX.  ABOUT  THE  CHILDREN 128 

XX.  BOU-MEDINE 133 

XXI.  MILOUD 141 

XXII.  MARRIAGE  CEREMONIES 143 

XXIII.  THE  LEGEND  OF  AIN-EL-HOUTZ 15° 


2126017 


vi  CONTENTS. 

CHAP.  PAGE 

XXIV.  RETURN  AND  FAREWELL  TO  ALGIERS 156 

XXV.  INTO  KABYLIA 162 

XXVI.   TO  AND   FROM   TUNIS 172 

XXVII.  FROM  BON  A  TO  CONST  ANTINE i    ...  183 

XXVIII.  ON  THE  WAY  TO  BISKRA 192 

XXIX.  ARRIVAL  AT  BISKRA 201 

XXX.  DUELS 210 

XXXI.  IN  THE  VILLAGES  AROUND  BISKRA 216 

XXXII.  A  SIROCCO 223 

XXXIII.  SCENES  FROM  LIFE  IN  THE  SAHARA 231 

XXXIV.  AN  IMPORTANT  OASIS 241 

XXXV.  EXCURSION  INTO  THE  DESERT 244 

XXXVI.  TOLGA  AND  NEIGHBORING  VILLAGES 249 

XXXVII.  EXPERIENCE  IN  A  SAND-STORM 257 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Rue  Porte  Neuve Frontispiece. 

The  Harbor  of  Algiers  by  Night  ...  5 

Ball  at  the  Governor's  Palace   ....  1 1 

The  Bay  of  Algiers 16 

Walls  of  the  Kasbah 17 

The  Nutshell ;  or,  Baia's  House  ...  20 

Bala  and  the  Queen  of  Sheba    ....  23 

Little  Zohr 24 

Badroulboudour 25 

In  a  Garden  at  El-Biar,  Algiers    ...  27 

Jewess  of  Algiers 29 

Young  Jewess  at  Home 31 

The  Missionary's  Escort 35 

Zohr's  Cradle 37 

Fountain  of  Abd-el-Rhaman 39 

Old  Fountain,  Rue  Bab-el-Oued,  Al- 
giers      46 

Rue  du  Diable,  Algiers 49 

Near  the  Kasbah,  Algiers 51 

Yamina  of  the  Kasbah 54 

The  Greasy  Fritter-shop 57 

Jewish  Calico-vender,  Algiers    ....  60 
In  the  Cemetery  of  Sidi  Abd-el-Rha- 
man    63 

Women's  Upper  Room  in  the  Mosque 

of  Abd-el-Rhaman  .  .  . 65 


PACK 

Mosquee  de  la  Pecherie  and  Kasbah  68 
Court  of  the  Khouba  at  Belcour  ...  72 
Court  and  Fountain  of  Djemaa-el- 

Kebir 74 

Tomb  of  Sidi  Abd-el-Rhaman  ....     79 

Negro  Fete  at  Blidah 82 

Fete  at  Oued-el-Kebir 85 

Tombs  at  Sidi  Abd-el-Rhaman    ...     89 

La  Fete  des  Feves 94 

On  the  Terraces 98 

Interior  of  Moorish  Bath 106 

Negress  Attendant  going  to  the  Bath  107 
On  the  Roof  cf  Sidi  Abd-el-Rhaman, 

Algiers 113 

Door  at  Tlemgen 118 

Washing -place  without  the  Walls, 

Tlemgen 121 

Onyx  Column  at  Sidi-el-Halawi  ...  123 

Young  Girl  of  Tlemgen 129 

Cemetery   of   Sidi   Abd-el-Rhaman, 

Algiers 134 

Doors  of  the  Mosque 137 

Preparations  for  the  Wedding,  Al- 
giers     145 

Musical  Instruments 151 

Neighbors  on  the  Terrace,  Algiers .  .  1 57 


Vlll 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Fatma 160 

Little  Garden,  Algiers 163 

At  the  Fountain   of  Birkadem,  be- 
tween Algiers  and  Blidah 168 

Jewish  Silver-smith,  Algiers 177 

Entrance  to  a  House 181 

El-Kantara 193 

The    Desert    near   Biskra   and    the 

Aures 199 

Biskra  Barber 202 


Masrouda,  Girl  of  Biskra 205 

Spahi,  Algiers 212 

Studio  Friends  at  Biskra 219 

Ouled-Nahil,  Dancing  Girl  of  Biskra  227 

Camel  and  Young,  Biskra .  235 

The  Masked  Virtuose,  Biskra 239 

"  Arab  " 245 

Mosque  of  Lichana 248 

Covered  Way  at  Tolga 250 

Interior  at  Lichana 254 


WINTERS   IN  ALGERIA. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE  "WHITE    DOVE." 

ETE  in  November,  1885,  and  at  a  late  hour  in  the  day, 
we  left  the  harbor  of  Marseilles,  made  glorious  by  the 
reflections  from  a  splendid  sunset ;  for  the  filthy  water 
of  the  busy  port  assumed  a  very  different  aspect  from  what 
it  wore  in  broad  daylight.  In  a  few  minutes  we  had  dis- 
tanced the  black  shipping,  an  inextricable  net-work  of  rigging, 
the  enormous  floating  wharves,  and  the  light-house.  Our  fine 
steamer  Ville  de  Madrid  then  turned  her  nose  towards  Al- 
giers at  full  speed,  giving  us  but  a  few  moments  to  look 
upon  the  island  of  Chateau -d'lf  and  to  recall  Monte-Cristo. 
On  a  high  promontory  Notre  Dame  de  la  Garde,  the  beacon 
for  sailor  devotees,  rose  and  faded  in  the  steel-blue  sky,  sug- 
gesting a  diminutive  Matterhorn. 

The  Mediterranean — "beautiful  wretch  "•— e*nticed  us  on 
through  her  smooth  waters,  which  would  have  been,  by  sunlight, 
so  blue  at  the  ship's  side  as  to  make  a  piece  of  lapis-lazuli  appear 
almost  gray  in  comparison.  "  Beautiful "  in  her  behavior  until 
the  following  day  at  noon ;  but  by  the  time  we  had  passed  the 
islands  of  Majorca  and  Minorca,  where  white  houses  and  win- 


2  WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 

dows  were  glinting  in  the  sun,  she  verified  the  appellation  of 
"  wretch."  She  is  proverbially  treacherous,  and  certainly,  ac- 
cording to  my  own  record  of  her  conduct,  I  can  say  very  little 
to  her  credit. 

Was  it  due  to  the  fact  of  my  having  been  born  in  Alabama, 
with  sunlight  in  my  bones,  that  I  felt  at  home  in  Algeria  when 
I  first  set  foot  on  her  genial  soil  in  1872?  Or  was  my  satisfac- 
tion the  effect  of  the  contrast  to  dark  and  dingy  Brittany,  where 
the  interiors  are  black,  and  the  mud  floors  absorb  the  sun's  rays ; 
where  the  low  gray  clouds  could  serve  as  an  appropriate  frame 
and  background  to  no  other  low-toned,  sullen,  and  sombre  figure 
than  the  Breton,  and  where  white  objects  are  not  luminous,  be- 
cause they  are  not  supported  and  encouraged  to  shine  by  the 
reflections  from  their  surroundings  ?  Certain  it  is  that  my  first 
impressions  of  North  Africa  can  never  be  dispelled.  The  near 
prospect  of  revisiting  its  sunny  shores  was  to  me  one  of  those 
delightful  anticipations  in  life  which  haunt  the  fancy ;  and  no 
sooner  had  I  set  foot  on  land  than  I  began  with  joy  to  sniff  the 
odors  so  peculiar  to  Oriental  towns — perfumes  of  musk,  tobacco, 
orange-blossoms,  coffee,  hashish — a  subtle  combination  which 
impregnates  Algerine  clothing  and  hovers  about  the  shops  and 
bazaars. 

Algiers,  seen  from  the  sea,  is  a  mass  of  white  surrounded 
by  the  dark  green  of  the  olives :  the  Arabs  compare  it  to  a 
diamond  set  in  an  emerald  frame.  The  city  is  also  called 
"  Alger  la  Blanche,"  and  again  Algiers  has  been  compared  to 
a  white  dove  settling  on  the  hill-side.  The  aspect  of  the  old 
town  which  suggested  to  its  author  this  comparison  must 
have  been  similar  to  that  presented  to  us  on  this  ideal  night; 
and  how  difficult  it  was  to  realize  the  change  which  had 
taken  place  in  this  hot-bed  of  corsairs  and  pirates  during  the 
nineteenth  century!  Only  as  far  back  as  1830 — when  the 


THE   "WHITE   DOVE."  3 

French  took  possession  of  Algiers  —  anything  but  "doves" 
had  settled  on  this  hill-side ;  blood-thirsty  and  tyrannical  deys 
gloated  on  murder,  bondage,  slavery,  rapine,  and  on  the  ex- 
tortion from  the  rulers  of  surrounding  countries  of  money, 
ships,  cannon,  munitions  of  war.  Their  formidable  batteries 
would  have  made  short  work  of  any  ship  like  ours,  sailing 
quietly  into  their  harbor  to  anchor  for  any  purpose  but  that 
of  affording  them  the  opportunity  to  plunder  its  contents,  to 
put  the  captain  to  languish  and  die  in  chains,  and  to  stuff 
the  crew  into  mortars  and  fire  them  off  at  the  heads  of  any 
foreigners  who  dared  to  come  to  their  rescue. 

But  this  was  a  horrid  dream,  which  must  be  shaken  off  in 
the  presence  of  the  tranquil  reality. 

Nothing  could  surpass  the  loveliness  of  the  spectacle  be- 
fore us ;  the  moon  was  almost  full  and  shone  nearly  perpen- 
dicularly on  the  compact  mass  of  white  houses,  with  an 
occasional  Jewish  dwelling  tinted  pale  blue ;  here  and  there 
the  faint  red  flame  of  a  lamp  was  seen  through  the  little 
apertures,  rather  than  windows,  from  a  cafe  where  the  Arabs 
often  indulge  in  late-hour  gossip  and  in  playing  drafts,  or 
from  a  mchacka,  where  hashish- smokers,  stretched  out  on 
matting,  were  dreaming  of  their  better  world,  the  Paradise  of 
Mohammed. 

All  was  motionless,  and  no  sounds  were  heard  from  the 
shore,  as  we  glided  into  the  harbor,  save  the  plashing  of  the 
oars  of  small  boats  coming  to  meet  us.  The  "  White  Dove  " 
lay  asleep  on  the  hill- side  against  the  softest  of  blue  skies — 
clear,  and  yet  having  the  appearance  of  a  transparent  enamel 
like  the  tender  old  Chinese  blue  one  is  so  fond  of.  The  calm 
and  lucid  surface  of  the  water  mirrored  the  whole  scene,  and 
the  "  great  stars  that  globed  themselves  in  heaven "  were 
doubled  in  the  profound  stillness  of  the  sea. 


4  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

Something  like  forty  years  ago  there  were  no  modern 
well-built  quay  and  boulevard  running  the  whole  length  of 
the  city;  the  Arab  town  came  down  to  the  water's  edge,  and 
boats  were  moored  to  rings  in  the  very  walls  of  the  houses. 
What  a  picture! — fishing -smacks,  one  mast  raking  forward, 
the  other  backward,  with  colored  sails  thrown  over  the  boom 
to  shelter  sailors  making  their  bouillabaisse,  the  blue  smoke 
curling  up  through  the  rigging.  Boats  of  this  kind  are  still 
there  to-day,  and  at  sunset  the  smaller  ones  snugly  pack  them- 
selves side  by  side,  and  Frenchmen,  Italians,  Spaniards,  Mal- 
tese, and  Arabs  crack  their  jokes  and  cook  their  supper 
under  awnings  and  sails  worthy  of  the  reputation  of  dear  old 
Venice. 

Nearly  all  the  passengers  were  now  on  deck  and  prepared 
to  go  ashore,  to  avoid  being  awakened  again  at  five  o'clock 
in  the  morning  by  the  unloading  of  cargo  in  the  grip  of  that 
demon,  the  jerky,  cranky,  dislocated  machine  known  as  the 
donkey-engine ;  so  called  in  honor  of  the  being  who  invented 
it.  We  landed  in  small  boats,  and  paid  according  to  a  fixed 
tariff.  Oh,  delightful  innovation !  to  be  fully  appreciated  only 
by  the  sleepy  traveller  who  has  set  foot  on  some  Oriental 
shore,  and  has  had  his  coat  and  collar  torn  off  by  Arabs — 
forty,  we  will  say,  to  strike  an  average — trying  to  get  posses- 
sion of  him  and  his  baggage. 

"  Here,  you  handsome  big  chap,  take  charge  of  my  things 
—hotel  So-and-so.  What's  your  name?" 

"  Mohammed." 

"  Yes,  of  course ;  I  know  that  much  already.  Mohammed 
ben  what  ?" 

"  Ben  Ai'ssa,  mister.     You  Inglesy  ?" 

"Not  exactly." 

"Then  you  Melican  ?" 


THE    HARBOR   OF   ALGIERS   BY   NIGHT. 


THE   "WHITE   DOVE."  7 

"  I  am  a  saouarr  [artist],  and  I  am  going  to  paint  your 
portrait.  Where  shall  I  find  you?" 

His  willingness  to  pose  was  not  overwhelming,  but  we 
made  an  appointment  which,  of  course,  he  never  kept.  This 
"  appointment  which,  of  course,  he  never  kept,"  may  almost  be 
converted  into  a  rule  when  dealing  with  Arabs.  At  any  rate, 
I  concluded  that  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  was  not  the 
hour  for  engaging  models. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE  STRANGERS'  QUARTER. 

ONCE  I  knew  a  little  chap  who  always  began  reading 
the  story  of  Aladdin  thus :  "  Na  town  in  Tartary  there 
lived  a  tailor  whose  name  was  Mustapha,"  omitting 
the  big  ornamental  "  I,"  which  made  an  intelligible  begin- 
ning— "  In  a  town,"  etc.  Just  out  of  Algiers  are  suburbs  called 
"Mustapha  Superieur"  and  "  Mustapha  Inferieur,"  and  I  seldom 
hear  the  name  of  Mustapha  without  being  reminded  of  the 
poor  tailor ;  and  this  reminiscence  has  always  served  me  as  a 
kind  of  connecting  link  between  the  old  Arabian  story  of  the 
"  Wonderful  Lamp "  and  anecdotes  and  legends  of  the  people 
in  the  midst  of  whom  I  have  spent  a  good  deal  of  time. 

At  Mustapha  Superieur,  then,  let  us  pitch  our  tent  for  the 
winter  season,  in  the  midst  of  semi  -  tropical  vegetation.  The 
fuchsia,  geranium,  cactus,  and  many  other  plants  which  strug- 
gle for  a  stunted  and  diminutive  existence  in  Northern  climes, 
attain  here  remarkable  size,  especially  the  geranium,  with  twist- 
ed and  snake -like  stems  and  branches,  growing  to  the  height 
of  six  feet  or  more,  and  enlivening  the  surroundings  with  its 
vermilion  flowers.  On  the  pale  green  cactus  grow  bright  yellow 
and  red  flowers,  and  the  beautiful  but  treacherous  prickly- pear, 
so  well  armed  with  its  nettled  down.  Twisted  fig-trees,  with  pale 
gray  trunks  and  branches,  aged  cypresses,  great  swaying  olives, 
pines  moaning  when  fretted  with  the  lightest  wind  of  heaven 


THE   STRANGERS'  QUARTER.  9 

(but  they  are  here  so  surrounded  by  sunlight  and  flowers  that 
their  mournful  influence  must  be  subordinate),  almond -trees, 
large-leaved  vines,  malachite  aloes  growing  out  of  red  earth,  and 
forming  impenetrable  hedges  on  each  side  of  steep  and  stony 
paths  —  these  are  the  most  characteristic  growths  of  this  soil. 
The  roads  they  border  are  sometimes  old  Roman  ways,  paved, 
and  overshadowed  by  the  luxuriant  growth,  and  so  dark  ^tow- 
ards  evening  that  coming  from  El-Biar  one  stumbles  down  a 
long  and  lonely  lane  that  seems  to  have  no  end. 

At  the  back  of  our  hotel,  and  starting  at  the  governor's 
summer  palace,  perhaps  two  miles  from  the  town,  runs  the 
most  charming  of  roads,  "  le  Chemin  des  Aqueducs,"  quite 
level,  but  twisting  and  turning  round  every  old  landslide,  and 
retreating  again  to  the  depths  of  every  ravine,  bringing  the 
traveller  within  a  stone's -throw  of  his  footsteps  of  ten  minutes 
previous.  At  last,  after  fascinating  glimpses  and  pictures  ready- 
made,  and  framed  in  by  olives  and  cacti,  of  the  bay,  the  town, 
and  harbor,  he  comes  to  the  old  citadel,  the  Kasbah,  high  above 
the  town. 

Returning  to  our  starting-point,  we  find  ourselves  in  the 
midst  of  white  villas,  roses,  and  vegetation,  and  on  the  high- 
road and  thoroughfare  leading  out  of  Algiers,  the  daily  drive 
of  the  winter  residents,  the  road  for  omnibuses,  diligences,  and 
for  miserable  Arabs  coming  and  going,  urging  home  their  laden 
donkeys  and  others  their  camels,  carrying  immense  loads  of 
brushwood,  straw  in  nets,  or  merchandise  in  well -stuffed  tellis 
(enormous  double  bags),  brushing  against  the  garden  walls  and 
passers-by.  This  is  the  high-road  to  Blidah,  passing  through 
Birkadem  and  other  villages. 

An  important  feature  in  the  aspect  of  Algiers  is  the  cita- 
del. Overlooking  the  town  at  the  corner  of  the  high  fortified 
walls,  which  were  built  down  to  the  sea,  stands  the  old  palace 


10  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

of  the  deys,  now  used  as  a  garrison  for  Zouaves.  Within  its 
walls  are  several  interesting  buildings — in  fact,  a  small  city  in 
itself — a  palace,  garden,  a  mosque  constructed  in  an  unusual 
way,  with  four  marble  columns  united  to  support  each  arch,  and 
another  curious  building  of  immense  vaults  under  one  roof,  re- 
sembling a  round  loaf  of  bread  flattened  on  the  top,  and  stand- 
ing separate  from  the  surrounding  buildings.  This  was  .the 
treasury  in  the  palmy  days  of  piracy,  when  millions  upon  mill- 
ions in  money  and  jewels  seem  to  have  puffed  out  its  sides, 
although  of  masonry.  It  now  serves  as  a  powder-magazine. 

Built  out  from  a  balcony  looking  into  the  court  is  the  "  Pa- 
vilion de  Coup  d'Eventail,"  of  historical  interest.  The  French 
consul  paid  a  visit  to  the  Dey  to  demand  certain  accounts  of 
financial  affairs  for  which  the  Dey  held  himself  responsible ; 
but  this  potentate  answered  by  slapping  the  consul  in  the  face 
with  his  fan,  a  moment  of  satisfaction  which  cost  the  Dey  his 
dominion ;  for  the  French  landed  not  long  after  on  the  shores 
of  Algiers,  and  the  irascible  ruler  was  sent  to  recuperate  in  for- 
eign atmosphere  never  to  return.* 

"Alger  la  Blanche,"  seen  from  the  roof  of  the  palace,  tumbles 
down  and  down,  terrace  after  terrace  of  dazzling  white  under 
the  noonday  sun,  and  almost  without  shadows.  Evening  creeps 
on,  and  the  sun,  setting  behind  the  hills  of  the  Sahel,  gilds  at 
last  only  here  and  there  a  house-top  and  a  minaret  faced  with 
glistening  tiles ;  the  long  blue  shadows  soon  merge  into  one ; 

*  This  happened  in  1830.  Hussein  Pacha,  the  Dey  (Sir  L.  Playfair  tells 
in  his  interesting  work,  "  Hand-book  for  Travellers  in  Algeria  and  Tunis  "), 
embarked  with  a  suite  of  one  hundred  and  ten  persons,  of  whom  fifty-five  were 
women.  After  residing  in  Italy  for  a  time  he  went  to  Egypt,  where  Moham- 
med AH  Pacha  received  him  with  the  consideration  due  to  his  rank  and  mis- 
fortunes. One  day,  after  a  private  audience,  Hussein  retired  to  his  private 
apartments  and  died  a  few  hours  afterwards,  it  is  said,  in  violent  convulsions. 


THE  STRANGERS'  QUARTER.  13 

the  sun  still  lingers  on  the  sails  of  fishing  -  boats  out  in  the 
bay;  and  lastly  on  Cape  Matifou  and  Djurdjura. 

Many  of  the  foreign  residents  on  the  heights  are  English, 
who  spend  successive  winters  in  the  beautiful  villas,  in  which 
are  combined  the  charms  of  Arab  construction  with  the  modi- 
fication of  English  detail.  Here  they  exchange  English  hospi- 
talities under  Algerine  conditions,  and  a  dinner  party  with  Eu- 
ropean friends  in  the  Moorish  court,  or  patio,  is  certainly  a  novel 
and  charming  entertainment.  An  awning  is  stretched  over- 
head, and  in  the  centre  of  the  court,  paved  with  marble  or  col- 
ored tiles,  stands  a  fountain,  the  water  playing  over  roses  and 
jasmines,  and  trickling  down  honeysuckle,  lilies,  and  green  palms, 
and  splashing  on  the  fish  in  the  basin  below;  and  all  this  in  the 
winter  months.  The  circular  table,  laden  too  with  flowers,  is 
placed  within  the  columns  and  around  the  fountain. 

The  governor  and  admiral  give  two  or  three  official  balls 
during  the  winter  season — one  at  the  admiralty,  situated  on  the 
ancient  harbor,  others  at  the  governor's  palaces  at  Mustapha 
Superieur  and  in  the  town.  The  reception,  of  which  an  illus- 
tration is  given,  took  place  in  March,  at  the  winter  palace  in 
town ;  the  guests  were  composed  of  the  French  residents,  civil 
and  military,  English,  a  few  other  foreigners,  a  dozen  Arab 
chiefs,  and  the  Mufti.  The  latter  dignitaries,  with  the  native 
military  officers,  scattered  among  the  Europeans  in  the  Moor- 
ish interior,  gave  the  local  color  to  the  reception^  The  chiefs, 
notwithstanding  the  heat  of  the  ball  -  rooms,  wore  their  ample 
cloth  pantaloons,  red  leather  boots  in  black  leather  outer  shoes, 
several  burnooses,  one  over  the  other,  scarlet,  black,  fawn-color, 
pale  blue.  They  did  not  seem  very  much  in  their  element. 

The  English  afternoon  tea  and  tennis  receptions  are  de- 
lightful, in  gardens  luxuriant  with  trees  and  bushes  bearing  fruit 
of  all  sorts.  Besides  oranges,  bananas,  grapes,  lime,  lemon,  are 


14  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

fruits  less  familiar  to  us :  the  Japanese  medlar,  of  a  bright  yel- 
low, acid,  and  very  refreshing,  with  four  big  brown  seeds,  re- 
sembling the  kaki  of  Japan ;  another  (the  name  of  which  I  do 
not  recall)  very  much  like  the  mango  of  India,  in  consistence 
more  like  a  thick  mass  of  very  hard  cream  than  anything  else  I 
can  think  of,  and  with  very  delicate  flavor,  the  exterior  symmet- 
rically ornamented  with  fish-scale  design  like  the  pineapple. 

The  papyrus,  so  well  known  as  the  plant  with  which  the 
ancient  Egyptians  made  a  tissue  resembling  paper,  and  upon 
which  they  wrote,  grows  in  these  patios  in  the  basins  of  the 
fountains.  The  long,  straight  stem  is  three -sided  like  a  bay- 
onet, and  can  be  split  into  fine  fibres  and  woven. 

There  are  a  few  comparatively  wealthy  Arab  families  who 
live  in  this  quarter,  and  the  women  are  pleased  to  receive 
European  ladies,  and  occasionally  make  appointments  to  re- 
turn their  calls,  but  with  the  understanding  that  the  gentle- 
men of  the  house  must  keep  themselves  well  out  of  the  way, 
so  that  they  may  unveil  themselves  and  take  tea  comfortably 
with  the  hostess. 

During  my  first  visit  to  Algiers,  I  remember  seeing  a  kind 
of  conveyance  which  I  have  never  noticed  since.  It  was  like  a 
carry- all  covered  with  a  cage  formed  of  close  lattice -work,  in 
which  sat  half  a  dozen  young  women,  the  well-guarded  wives  of 
some  jealous  lord,  who  only  allowed  them  the  privilege  of  a 
pleasure-drive  under  those  conditions  of  privacy.  The  only 
similar  contrivances  that  I  know  of  are  the  small  boats  at 
Cairo  with  housings  over  them,  used  for  conveying  across  the 
Nile  the  inmates  of  a  harem  on  the  Island  of  Rhoda. 

In  the  thorough  cleaning  and  scraping  of  one  of  the 
finest  villas  of  Mustapha,  a  stone  embedded  a  little  below  the 
surface  of  the  wall,  near  the  ceiling,  and  bearing  an  inscrip- 
tion in  English,  was  discovered ;  it  bore  the  name  of  an 


THE  STRANGERS'  QUARTER.  15 

English  captive  and  slave  who  had  been  employed  in  the 
building  of  the  house. 

Another  interesting  incident  is  found  in  Vasari's  "  Life  of 
Fra  Filippo  Lippi,"  the  old  Italian  painter : 

"  Finding  himself  in  the  March  of  Ancona,  and  being  one 
day  at  sea  in  a  boat  with  certain  friends  of  his,  they  were  all 
caught  by  the  Moors  who  ranged  about  those  coasts,  and 
taken  into  Barbary  and  kept  in  slavery,  each  one  being  put 
into  chains.  There  he  remained  with  great  distress  during 
eighteen  months.  But  one  day,  being  much  in  the  company 
of  his  master,  he  had  a  fancy  for  drawing  his  portrait.  Hav- 
ing taken  an  extinguished  charcoal  from  the  fire,  he  drew 
him  full  length,  with  his  Moorish  costume,  upon  the  surface 
of  a  white  wall.  This  being  told  to  the  master  by  the  other 
slaves,  to  whom  it  seemed  a  miracle — -neither  drawing  nor 
painting  being  practised  in  those  parts  —  it  was  the  cause  of 
his  liberation  from  the  chains  that  had  so  long  confined  him. 
Truly  it  is  a  glory  to  this  great  power  of  art  that  one  to 
whom  belonged  by  law  the  right  of  punishing  and  condemn- 
ing should  do  precisely  the  contrary  —  nay,  should  be  per- 
suaded to  give  caresses  instead  of  chastisement,  and  liberty 
instead  of  death.  Having,  then,  done  some  work  in  painting 
for  his  master,  he  was  taken  in  safety  back  to  Naples." 

Mustapha  Superieur  is  well  named,  as  it  is  indeed  supe- 
rior in  every  sense  of  the  word  to  the  lower  part  of  the  hill, 
which  flattens  out  towards  the  bay.  The  houses  are  almost 
entirely  of  modern  construction,  and  form  quite  a  separate 
village.  Close  by  is  a  very  large  open  space — the  drilling- 
ground  and  race -course  —  where  every  morning,  from  my  bed 
even,  I  could  see  the  manoeuvrings  of  the  French  cavalry. 
The  horses  at  that  distance  looked  like  mosquitoes.  The  sun 
was  my  chronometer  and  barometer.  The  first  cold,  gray  flush 


i6 


WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 


of  dawn  in  a  cloudless  sky,  mirrored  in  the  sea  without  a  ripple, 
gave  promise  of  a  perfect  day,  and  told  me  how  much  longer  it 
was  allowable  to  lie  in  bed  and  make  calculations  for  the  day's 
work.  Djurdjura,  covered  with  snow,  and  rising  above  and  be- 
yond the  long,  dark  blue  mountains  of  the  Atlas  range,  hung 
in  space,  with  an  unbroken  band  of  mist  dividing  land  and  wa- 
ter. Now  came  the  early  morning  train  on  its  way  to  Blidah, 
leaving  a  trail  of  white  smoke  low  and  motionless  along  its 
track,  which  first  rounds  the  bay,  then  makes  a  straight  dash 
to  Maison-Carree.  The  sky  grew  warmer  and  of  a  greenish 
tinge,  then  red  and  more  golden  over  the  sweep  of  the  bay, 
hemmed  in  by  an  out-stretched  promontory — Cape  Matifou — 
away  to  the  left,  and  to  the  right  by  the  beautiful  hills  of 


THE    BAY    OF    ALGIERS. 

Mustapha,  black  with  olive-trees,  and  dotted  with  white  Arab 
villas.  I  could  hear  the  regular  plashing  of  the  waves  on  the 
sands,  and  the  sound  of  each  wave  died  away  as  it  followed 
the  beach,  beginning  at  one  end  and  running  along  like  the 
lash  of  a  whip. 


THE   STRANGERS'  QUARTER. 


Back  of  our  elevated  position  Mustapha  continues  to  rise 
to  El-Biar  (The  Well),  culminating  at  Bouzareah,  which  is 
about  1250  feet  above  the  sea. 

From  this  point  one  enjoys  a  glorious  view  of  the  Med- 
iterranean and  surrounding  country.  A  sketch  is  given  to 
show  the  relative  positions  of  the  environs.  A  stands  for  Al- 
giers, which  slopes 
down  away  from  us 
over  the  nose  of  the 
promontory  to  the 
harbor,  H.  Musta- 
pha Superieur  is 
shown  by  two  B'S, 
and  Mustapha  Infe- 
rieur  by  c's ;  also 
the  Champ  de  Ma- 
noeuvres and  race- 
course; D,  El-Biar; 
E,  Bouzareah ;  F,  an 
unattractive  suburb, 

St.  Eugene,  cold  and  damp  in  winter,  for  it  faces  north,  hot  and 
dusty  and  without  shade  in  summer ;  G,  Cape  Matifou ;  i,  Jar- 
din  d'Essai ;  j,  Djurdjura ;  K,  the  Kasbah,  or  citadel,  which 
overlooks  the  town  (an  immense  wall  built  of  brick  and  stone, 
running  down  to  the  sea  on  either  side  of  the  ridge,  protected 
the  Algerines  from  inland  incursions);  L,  Fort  1'Empereur, 
named  after  the  emperor  Charles  V.,  whose  camp  was  pitched 
there. 

The  great  walls  of  the  fort  and  of  the  Kasbah  are  half  hid- 
den in  some  places  by  tall  eucalyptus -trees,  which  feed  and 
thrive  on  miasma  that  is  death  to  man. 


WALLS   OF   THE    KASBAH. 


CHAPTER   III. 

POPULAR    ALGIERS. 

BELKASSEM  marked  me  as  a  saouarr  on  my  first  re- 
turn to  the  town  from  Mustapha  with  the  necessary 
paraphernalia  for  sketching,  familiar  nowadays  to  the 
natives  of  many  an  out-of-the-way  place.  He  offered  his  serv- 
ices as  model  or  guide ;  and  as  I  was  seeking  what  I  might 
devour  in  the  way  of  a  bit  of  useful  background,  and  was 
particularly  anxious  to  see  interior  life,  and  gain  access  to 
houses  and  their  terraces,  I  took  advantage  of  the  offer  of 
the  Arab  in  his  character  of  guide,  and  followed  him  up  nar- 
row streets  and  through  whitewashed  tunnels  to  ramshackle 
doors  hung  in  the  most  primitive  manner,  with  big  round- 
headed  and  ornamented  nails  in  various  designs,  and  furnished 
with  elaborate  brass  knockers. 

These  knockers  must  have  been  intended  for  foreign  call- 
ers. The  Arab's  custom  of  knocking  at  the  door  is  as  prim- 
itive, as  the  hinges ;  he  pounds  away  with  the  fist  until  some 
one  of  the  inmates  answers.  A  man  or  boy  may  come  to  the 
door;  but  a  woman  either  emits  a  decidedly  audible  scream 
from  the  inner  court,  or  she  pokes  her  head  through  a  window 
just  big  enough,  or  peeps  over  a  terrace  wall  (concealing  her 
features,  of  course)  to  question  the  caller  as  to  his  name  and 
object.  The  outer  door  is  very  frequently  left  wide  open,  but 
the  houses,  with  few  exceptions,  are  constructed  with  sufficient 


POPULAR   ALGIERS.  19 

ingenuity  to  prevent  passers-by  from  seeing  anything  but  a 
blank  wall  and  a  little  vestibule  turning  at  a  right  angle.  Oc- 
casionally, however,  one's  curiosity  is  rewarded  by  a  glimpse  of 
the  inner  court,  neatly  paved  with  little  six-sided  red  tiles,  with 
here  and  there  a  valuable  square  of  ancient  marble  or  faience 
let  into  the  door-sill  or  the  "dado";  slender  oleander  boughs,  or 
the  tortuous  branches  of  a  fig-tree,  throw  shadows  in  delicate 
patterns  across  the  pavement,  and  a  thread  of  sunlight  finds 
its  way  into  an  inner  chamber.  The  artist  is  grateful  for  this 
blunder  of  the  architect,  or  for  the  coquetry  of  the  inhabitants 
who  may  intentionally  leave  this  narrow  vista,  which  is  espe- 
cially probable  in  the  case  where  the  owner  of  the  dwelling  is 
a  courtesan.  But  in  no  case  whatsoever  is  an  outsider  ex- 
pected to  enter  without  knocking.  Should  an  Arab  walk  into 
a  respectable  neighbor's  house  he  would  run  the  greate'st  risk 
of  being  stabbed ;  but  he  would  no  more  think  of  doing  so 
than  we  would  recognize  the  propriety  of  a  gentleman  walk- 
ing deliberately  into  a  lady's,  bedroom. 

"Baia!    Ba'ia !" 

"  Eh  !  who's  there  ?" 

"  Belkassem,  with  a  sidi  saouarr  [gentleman  artist].  Will 
you  open  the  door1  to  us  ?" 

Baia  had  ingenuity  enough,  as  I  afterwards  learned,  to  con- 
ceal by  the  mattress  of  her  divan  a  hole  in  the  floor  through 
which  she  could  see  visitors  who  knocked  at  the  street  door. 
The  house  was  of  the  smallest  possible  dimensions,  and  ha4 
been  whitewashed  and  bluewashed  so  often  that  the  original 
forms  of  the  columns  and  masonry  had  become  round,  and  all 
the  details  filled  up.  Beautiful  tiles  are  often  thus  found  com- 
pletely concealed,  as  well  as  marble  columns  with  well-finished 
capitals  and  of  good  design.  The  bucket  of  lime  and  enor- 
mous brush  on  the  end  of  a  long  pole  go  blindly  to  work 


2O 


WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 


once  a  year  at  least,  about  the  ist  of  May,  and  smear  every 
surface  alike,  brick,  plaster,  tile,  or  wood.  Ample  proof  of  this 
much-to-be-regretted  custom  is  found  in. most  of  the  charm- 
ing Arab  villas  which  have  been  bought  and  restored  by  for- 
eign residents.  There  may  be  no  two  houses  alike,  but  there 


THE    NUTSHELL]   OR,  BAIA'S    HOUSE. 


is  so  much  resemblance  in  the  general  character  of  the  build- 
ings huddled  together  in  the  old  town  that  a  description  of 
•Bai'a's  will  suffice  to  show  the  accommodations  for  families  of 
the  middle  and  poorer  classes.  And  by  these  classes  is  really 
meant  all  Algiers  within  the  fortified  walls ;  for  the  best  an- 
cient houses  of  the  wealthy  Algerines,  beginning  with  the  Dey, 
have  been  converted  into  public  museums,  libraries,  palaces  for 
the  governor  and  archbishop,  dwellings  for  officers,  and  bar- 
racks for  the  soldiers.  In  fact,  all  the  residences  worth  having, 


POPULAR   ALGIERS.  21 

both  in  the  town  and  suburbs,  were  confiscated  by  the  French 
on  their  taking  possession  of  the  country,  and  given  to  officials 
of  the  Government,  most  of  whom  sold  them,  not  being  able  to 
keep  up  such  expensive  establishments  and  grounds.  A  few 
fine  villas  here  and  there  in  the  environs  have  again  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  wealthy  natives. 

The  "regulation"  Arab  house  is  always  commenced  in  the 
same  way ;  whatever  the  shape  of  the  lot  of  ground  is,  there 
must  be  a  square  court,  sometimes  with  a  fountain  in  the  cen- 
tre and  a  colonnade  surrounding  the  court;  the  smallest  col- 
umns, one  at  each  corner,  with  ornamented  balustrade  between 
them,  support  the  upper  story  on  horseshoe  arches,  with  a  rep- 
etition of  the  same  number  of  columns  and  arches  supporting 
the  roof;  then  rooms,  of  every  conceivable  shape,  to  suit  the 
convenience  of  the  owner  and  to  make  the  best  of  every  inch  of 
the  lot,  are  built  around  the  court,  the  doors  and  windows,  with 
iron  gratings,  opening  into  it ;  the  outer  wall  forms  a  kind  of 
fortress,  with  few  and  very  small  windows.  The  Arabs  as  well 
as  the  English  can  say  that  "  a  man's  house  is  his  castle."  In 
the  large  country  houses  the  same  rule  is  observed  on  a  larger 
scale  and  with  more  columns,  with  a  very  extensive  outer  court 
enclosed  by  a  long  colonnade  and  wall.  Bai'a's  house  was  of 
the  most  modest  order,  a  mere  nutshell; -a  court  seven  feet 
by  four  was  converted  once  a  week  into  an  extensive  laundry, 
where  Fatma,  a  jovial  and  good  -  natured  negress,  was  in  her 
element.  Under  the  stair-way,  just  wide  enough  for  one,  was 
a  well,  next  to  which  was  a  tiny  room,  which  received  light 
only  from  the  court.  The  lame  and  lonely  specimen  of  female 
humanity  to  whom  this  room  was  rented  did  all  her  cooking 
at  the  door,  and  when  she  was  fortunate  enough  to  afford  to 
fry  anything  like  a  mutton-chop  I  was  obliged  to  leave  my 
easel  for  the  time  being. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   PEOPLE. 

BAIA'S  nutshell  became  my  working  headquarters  for  the 
winter.  I  was  always  so  well  received  after  my  first 
visit  that  I  made  a  pecuniary  arrangement,  which  al- 
lowed me  to  reserve  a  corner  for  my  canvases,  box,  etc.  The 
necessity  of  such  an  understanding  with  the  people  with  whom 
we  are  now  dealing  is  well  known,  but  every  one  is  not  ac- 
quainted with  their  traits  of  distrust,  especially  in  their  deal- 
ings with  each  other.  Now,  I  thought  that  the  conditions  of 
my  partial  habitation  were  well  established,  but  at  the  end  of 
the  week,  while  I  was  working  on  the  terrace,  Belkassem  ap- 
peared on  the  scene  below- stairs  and  began  mumbling  and 
grumbling  about  money  matters.  His  object  was  to  obtain 
from  Ba'ia  a  percentage  on  the  sums  which  I  had  stipulated 
to  pay  her  for  every  day's  work  in  her  house,  and  he  was  way- 
laying me  to  get  another  percentage  for  having  shown  me  the 
way.  It  was  natural  enough  for  him  to  expect  a  reward,  and 
I  was  happy  to  acknowledge  his  aid ;  but  a  new  pretext  every 
day  to  see  how  my  "  portraits  "  of  the  house  \vere  progressing, 
with  the  same  object  in  view,  became  so  tiresome  that  the 
woman  of  the  house  requested  the  wily  Arab  to  let  me  alone 
and  to  keep  away,  which  he  wisely  decided  to  do.  He  re- 
mained friendly  nevertheless. 

While  working  on   the  terrace  one  afternoon   (my  favorite 


THE   PEOPLE.  23 

place,  being  unmolested  in  the  shadow  of  the  high  house  of 
a  neighbor,  completely  surrounded  and  enveloped  in  whites- 
yellow,  gray,  blue,  green,  and  pink  whites — delicious  whites  in 
shadow,  of  those  refined  tones  so  terrible  to  do  justice  to  on 
canvas,  and  with  which  one  must  wrestle)  I  was  attracted  to 


BA1A    AND   THE    QUEEN    OF    SHEBA. 

0 

the  parapet  of  the  terrace  to  see  the  cause  of  the  crush  and 
noise  of  a  crowd  in  our  little  street,  which  was  a  cul-de-sac. 
A  number  of  people,  some  angry,  some  roaring  with  laughter, 
were  following  an  Arab  who  was  carrying  his  wife  home  in 
his  arms,  very  much  against  her  will ;  she  was  so  energetic  in 
her  resistance,  and  he  so  determined,  that  his  turban  and  bur- 


WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 


noose,  and  her  hai'k,  veil,  and  long  black  hair  were  flying  to  the 
winds.  He  was  calm  of  countenance  and  said  nothing,  but 
walked  along  firmly;  she  did  all  the  gesticulating,  struggling, 

and  protesting,  until  they  came  to  a 
door  with  a  large  knocker,  to  which, 
seeing  a  chance  of  escape,  she  clung, 
and  he  could  not,  with  all  his  efforts, 
make  her  let  go.  The  women  of 
the  house  to  which  the  door  was  the 
entrance  were  friends  of  hers,  and 
hearing  the  unusual  mode  of  tap- 
ping, rushed  quickly  to  open.  They 
took  in  the  situation  at  a  glance, 
and  it  now  became  the  husband's 
turn  to  let  go  his  hold.  Her  friends 
received  the  wife,  and  shut  the  door 
and  locked  it  in  the  husband's  face. 
They  all  then  repaired  to  their  ter- 
race opposite  me,  and  after  lengthy 
explanations  they  had  a  good  laugh, 
drank  coffee,  and  threw  the  dregs  into  the  street  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  husband,  who  had  got  the  worst  of  it. 

BaVa  was  a  widow  of  about  thirty  years  of  age,  and  she  had 
a  daughter,  Zohr,  seven  years  old,  who  was  as  agile  as  a  cat 
and  as  restless  as  a  hyena  in  a  cage — not  a  beautiful  com- 
parison, perhaps,  for  a  very  pretty  child,  but  I  can  think  of 
nothing  more  hopelessly  "  on  the  go  "  than  the  unsympathetic 
animal  above  mentioned — I  mean  the  hyena.  At  one  moment 
Zohr  was  hanging  over  the  balustrade  of  the  court,  now  on  the 
terrace  of  a  neighbor  throwing  water  on  the  boys  in  the  street, 
then  again  putting  her  dolls  with  "  Joli  Coco,"  the  parrot,  to 
bed;  the  sluggish  blood  of  a  warm  climate  had  not  yet  taken 


LITTLE   ZOHR. 


THE   PEOPLE.  25 

possession  of  her  veins.  Baia's  mother  was  a  kind  soul,  who 
passed  her  time  in  cooking  for  a  French  family,  and  in  em- 
broidering, between  meals,  either  long  strips  for  curtains  or 
square  covers  for  cushions  and  tables.  Bai'a  had  posed  for 
artists  a  good  deal ;  but  since,  with  her  youth  on  the  wane, 


BADROULBOUDOUR. 


that  lucrative  occupation  had  become  rarer,  she  gave  her  at- 
tention to  weaving  silk  and  woollen  braid  at  three  sous  a 
yard.  Women  friends  were  continually  "  dropping  in,"  and  see- 
ing me  there  at  work  so  often,  they  considered  me  as  one  of 


26  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

the  family,  and  raised  the  veils  from  their  faces  and  made 
themselves  at  home  generally.  A  certain  tall  and  savage-look- 
ing beauty,  laden  with  jewellery — Queen  of  Sheba,  we  will  call 
her — was  a  frequent  visitor;  but  on  account  of  a  tremendous 
mistake  on  her  part,  which  raised  my  ire  to  a  high  pitch,  she 
"  dropped  out "  for  several  weeks.  At  any  rate,  she  did  not 
show  herself  during  my  working  hours  for  that  length  of  time, 
owing  to  a  scolding  which  I  gave  vent  to  in  the  presence  of 
the  whole  family,  for  I  was  not  sure  of  the  guilty  one,  though 
I  had  my  suspicions.  I  had  brought  back  a  large  and  finished 
study,  painted  in  the  interior  of  a  mosque,  of  a  saint's  tomb 
profusely  ornamented  and  hung  with  flags  and  banners.  I  had 
protected  the  fresh  canvas  in  the  usual  way  by  another  one — 
the  length  of  which  was  the  same  as  the  breadth  of  the  study 
— with  drawing-pins  between,  so  that  the  two  surfaces  should 
not  touch,  and  a  strap  to  hold  them  together.  During  my 
absence  at  mid-day  breakfast  the  Queen  of  Sheba  had  gazed 
upon  the  picture  of  the  tomb  of  Sidi  Abd-el-Rhaman,  and  had 
strapped  the  canvases  together  again  without  the  necessary 
space  left  between  them.  Oh,  agonizing  moment !  When  shall 
I  recover  from  the  pang  of  finding  my  sketch  "  retouched  "  in 
this  manner?  But  the  little  storm  in  the  nutshell  subsided, 
I  repaired  the  tomb,  and  the  experience  was  not  to  be  so 
much  regretted  after  all,  as  it  insured  my  peace  of  mind  ever 
after,  for  my  traps  were  never  touched  again. 

"  Badroulboudour "  was  a  charming  and  timid  girl,  known 
to  me  by  that  name  as  one  who  might,  through  my  imagina- 
tion, impersonate  Aladdin's  Princess.  Besides  her  portrait,  she 
figures  in  the  accompanying  sketch  of  a  garden  at  El-Biar. 

Bai'a  was  extremely  neat,  and  once  a  week  everything  was 
turned  out  for  a  thorough  house -cleaning;  buckets  of  water 
deluged  the  tiled  floors  of  the  court  and  under  the  little  col- 

o 


THE   PEOPLE.  27 

onnade,  while  a  mop.  was  used  for  the  bedrooms,  which  were 
also  tiled.  Wood  is  seldom  employed  in  the  construction  of 
floors,  as  tiles  are  cooler  in  summer,  do  not  warp,  are  more  or- 
namental, and  cheaper.  Her  old  mother  abominated  shoes, 
and  to  see  her  assist  in  the  general  washing  up  on  cold  and 
rainy  days,  going  barefooted  about  the  house  on  the  cheerless 
tiles,  sent  a  chill  to  my  very  marrow.  To  acknowledge  and 


TN    A    GARDEN    AT    EL-BIAR,  ALGIERS. 


return  my  sympathy,  she  expressed  her  discomfort  at  seeing 
me  at  work  in  a  big  overcoat  and  thick-soled  boots.  When  I 
went  to  see  our  friend  Belkassem  at  home  with  his  family,  the 
rain  was  pouring  into  the  open  court  of  his  dwelling,  and  his 
five  children  were  standing  about  on  their  bare  feet  like  for- 
lorn wet  chickens ;  the  mother  with  a  babe  in  her  arms  was 
afflicted,  like  all  her  little  brood,  with  sore  eyes. 


CHAPTER   V. 

COSTUMES  AND   CUSTOMS. 

IT  is  a  strange  fact  that  many  of  the  natives  of  hot  coun- 
tries wear  almost  the  same  clothing  winter  and  summer, 
and  do  not  seem  to  suffer  from  cold,  even  in  the  severest 
weather,  when  the  thermometer  stands  at  a  few  degrees  above 
the  freezing-point.  Arab  women  are  always  curious  to  see 
how  European  ladies  are  dressed,  and  examine  attentively  their 
clothes  and  jewellery.  If  the  Europeans  show  the  same  inter- 
est, and  inquire  into  the  dressing  of  the  natives,  they  often 
find,  to  their  surprise,  on  cold  days,  on  lifting  the  hai'k  of  a 
Moorish  woman,  nothing  but  a  gauze  chemise,  and  a  thin 
cotton  bodice  covering  the  breasts  and  a  very  small  part  of 
the  back,  and,  from  the  waist  to  the  feet,  cotton  pantaloons — 
ample,  it  is  true,  but  not  warm.  The  women's  haiks  are  often 
made  of  hand-woven  wool,  very  thick  and  warm,  others  of  silk, 
while  the  poorer  classes  wear  a  few  yards  of  thin  white  cot- 
ton stuff.  The  large  hai'ks  are  about  eighteen  feet  long  by 
five  feet  wide.  With  one  of  these,  with  their  veil  to  the  eyes 
and  falling  about  fourteen  inches,  and  with  pantaloons  made 
up  of  seventeen  yards  of  white  cotton  tied  at  the  waist  and 
ankles,  the  reader  will  have  but  little  difficulty  in  understand- 
ing how  they  can  conceal  their  figures  and  keep  themselves 
warm.  But  such  ample  drapery  is  comparative  luxury,  and 
enjoyed  by  the  wealthy  only.  On  the  other  hand,  one  pities 


COSTUMES   AND    CUSTOMS. 


29 


them  in  hot  weather  for  being  obliged  to  wear  the  veil,  and  fol- 
low the  fashion  of  burdening  their  frames  with  such  a  weight 
of  apparel. 

Despite    all    this    drapery   the  women's    husbands    and    ac- 
quaintances readily  recognize  them  by  their  bearing  and  gait—- 
but one  can  form  no  idea,  or  a  very  inaccurate  one,  of  a  wom- 
an from  what  the  exterior  forms  suggest.     And  what  a  damper 
to    one's    conjectures    to    discover 
that  a  lustrous  pair  of  the  deepest 
brown  eyes,  softened  and  enhanced 
by  kohl-blackened  lashes,  belong  to 
a   coarse    and   vulgar  face    twenty 
years   older   than   it   ought  to  be. 
Happily  the  reverse  is — I  will  not 
say  often,  for  beauty  is  rare — some- 
times the  case.     An  outward  indi- 
cation  of   age  with   the  women  is 
the    breadth    of    their    pantaloons, 
which  is   much  diminished  as   the 
wearers  grow  older. 

The  street  costume  of  the  wom- 
en is  always  white,  varying  consid- 
erably in  tone  according  to  the 
material ;  small  stripes  of  blue  or 
pink  silk  are  occasionally  seen  in 
the  hai'k.  The  ample  pantaloons 
are  put  on  over  others  of  colored 
prints  or  silk  brocades,  which  are 

worn  at  home  and  are  much  narrower.  Large  anklets  filled 
with  shot  (khankhal)  jingle  as  they  move  about.  Their  slippers 
are  of  pale  yellow,  white,  brown,  or  black  patent-leather,  and.  the 
height  of  fashion  is  to  wear  everything  of  the  same  color;  for 


JEWESS   OF   ALGIERS. 


30  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

instance,  yellow  head  kerchief  bordered  with  gold  and  silk 
fringe,  yellow  ribbons  to  ornament  the  thin  chemise,  yellow 
silk  bodice,  pantaloons  of  the  same  color,  and  yellow  leather 
slippers.  The  rest  of  the  costume  is  white.  But  these  gala 
dresses  were  not  those  which  we  found  most  picturesque ;  for 
too  much  European  influence  is  felt  in  the  colors  and  in  the 
cut  of  the  garments,  in  the  same  way  that  cheap,  crude,  and 
perishable  dyes  have  found  their  way  into  modern  carpets  of 
Eastern  make.  The  more  ordinary  kind  of  costume,  worn 
every  day,  hanging  in  loose  folds,  and  showing  the  lithe  and 
lazy  forms  beneath,  is  more  suited  to  an  artist's  brush. 

The  same  can  be  said  of  the  Jewesses'  costumes.  Stretch- 
ing their  clothes-lines  on  the  house-tops,  or  lounging  about 
the  shops,  they  are  handsome  and  charming  (except  when 
uncleanliness  predominates  too  strongly);  but  when  they  walk 
on  Saturdays  with  their  shapeless  India  shawls,  thin  black 
head  kerchief  worn  as  if  glued  to  the  forehead — in  fact,  gum 
is  used  to  keep  it  in  place — and  white  veil  tied  under  the 
chin  and  in  a  knot  on  the  top  of  the  head,  they  are  not  fine 
for  all  their  finery.  The  colors  they  wear  are  sometimes 
lovely  and  the  material  is  good — black  velvet  gowns,  jackets 
of  stamped  velvet,  or  brocade  with  gold  or  silver  design ;  but 
then  again  they  will  destroy  your  faith  in  their  good  taste 
by  putting  on- kerchiefs  and  braid  of  the  crudest  and  most 
vivid  colors,  and  consequently  out  of  harmony  with  every- 
thing— intermediate  blues  and  greens  that  set  one's  teeth  on 
edge.  We  say  intermediate,  for  the  two  colors  mentioned 
may  be  very  beautiful,  especially  when  pale  or  dark,  or  subtly 
toned,  but  they  can  assert  themselves,  when  they  are  raw  and 
salient,  to  a  greater  extent  than  any  others,  except,  perhaps, 
their  first  cousin,  magenta. 

The   houses    of   the   lower   classes   of  Jews    are    generally 


COSTUMES   AND   CUSTOMS. 


filthy ;  even  the  glazed  tile  floors  and  walls,  which  are  so 
easily  washed,  disappear  entirely  under  accumulated  dirt,  and 
the  disorder  in  their  living-rooms  is  impossible  to  describe. 
The  compensation  for  this  repulsive  element  is  that  strangers 
are  politely  received,  and  artists  are  allowed  to  make  sketches 
in  any  part  of  their  dwellings,  which  differ  but  little  from 
Arab  constructions.  All  their 

doors    are    left    wide    open,    and     *  , 

several  families  live   in  different 
rooms  looking  into  one  common 
court.      In   many  other  towns— 
Oran,    Constantine,    Tlem9en  - 
there  are   streets    and  quar- 
ters entirely  occupied  by  the 
Jews ;     in    Algiers    they 
seem  to  be  more  scat- 
tered. 

Friday  is  the  Ar- 
ab's Sunday,  but  it 
does  not  interfere 
much  with  his  world- 
ly business  unless  he 
chooses.  Then  Sat- 
urday is  the  Jew's 
Sabbath ;  and  then 
comes  our  Sunday,  t 

on  which  day  the  French  workman  continues  to  work,  in  order 
to  take  at  least  a  half-holiday  on  Monday.  Accordingly  there 
are  four  days  out  of  the  seven  when  the  visitor  to  Algiers  runs 
the  risk  of  finding  a  shop  closed  or  a  workman  not  at  his  post. 

The    Beni-Mzab,  or   Mozabites,  although   Arabs    and    Mo- 
hammedans, form  a  class  almost  as  distinctly  separate  as  the 


YOUNG   JEWESS    AT    HOME. 


32  WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 

Jews.  Like  the  latter,  they  are  money-makers,  and  carry  on 
commerce  extensively  throughout  the  whole  colony,  and  are 
disliked  for  their  thrift  almost  as  much  as  the  Jews  by  the 
Arabs,  for  each  and  every  one  of  them,  it  is  said,  is  indus- 
trious. Originally  from  Syria,  they  wear  a  costume  which  dif- 
fers from  that  of  their  Mussulman  brethren,  particularly  in  one 
garment,  that  is,  the  gandoura,  which  is  square  in  shape, 
sleeveless,  a  little  longer  than  broad,  reaching  to  the  knees, 
with  large  openings  for  the  arms,  and  one  for  the  head.  The 
material  is  wool,  thickly  and  tightly  woven,  and  in  a  great  va- 
riety of  stripes,  very  large  and  very  narrow,  with  lozenge,  zig- 
zag, and  comb-shaped  ornamentation  in  the  weaving.  Joseph's 
coat  of  many  colors  was  undoubtedly  very  like  this  garment. 

The  Mozabite's  ambition  is  to  grow  rich,%nd  to  retire  to 
his  native  country,  situated  more  than  a  hundred  miles  beyond 
El-Aghouat,  which  in  itself  is  at  the  end  of  all  things — that 
is,  at  the  limit  of  a  hard  journey  of  four  or  five  days  far  into 
the  Sahara.  Now,  this  country,  which  he  longs  to  reach,  and 
where  he  hopes  to  end  his  days,  is  one  of  the  strangest  re- 
gions on  the  face  of  the  earth,  according  to  the  account  given 
by  Commandant  Coyne.  The  most  arid  and  burning  stretch 
of  desert  surrounds  an  oasis  called  by  the  Arabs  Hammada 
(the  scorched)  and  Chebka  (the  net),  because  it  resembles  an 
immense  net  of  rocks  and  black  grotto  shell-work.  It  seems 
so  far  away,  and  the  ambition  of  the  Mzab  so  unaccountable, 
that  one  is  reminded  of  the  Arabian  Nights'  tales. 

"  About  in  the  centre  of  the  Chebka,"  Commandant  Coyne 
tells  us,  "  is  a  kind  of  circus  formed  of  a  belt  of  shining  cal- 
careous rock,  with  very  steep  slopes  towards  the  interior. 
Two  gaps  at  the  north-west  and  south-east  let  the  river — the 
Oued-Mzab — pass.  This  circus  of  about  eighteen  kilometres 
[eleven  miles]  in  length  by  two  kilometres  broad,  at  most,  en- 


COSTUMES   AND   CUSTOMS.  33 

closes  five  cities  (three  of  which,  it  is  said,  are  as  large  as  Al- 
giers) of  the  Mozabite  confederation  and  their  land,  the  whole 
of  which  the  inhabitants  of  this  valley  have  changed  into  highly 
cultivated  gardens.  Seen  from  the  exterior  and  from  the  north 
and  east,  this  belt  of  rocks  presents  the  appearance  of  an  ag- 
glomeration of  khoubas  [marabouts'  tombs],  in  stories  one 
above  the  other,  without  any  kind  of  order,  and  looks  like  an 
immense  Arab  necropolis.  Nature  itself  seems  dead.  No  trace 
of  vegetation  reposes  the  eye ;  even  the  birds  of  prey  seem  to 
fly  from  these  desolate  regions.  The  implacable  sun  alone 
throws  his  rays  on  these  walls  of  rock  of  a  whitish  gray  color, 
and  produces  by  their  shadows  the  most  fantastic  designs. 
But  what  is  the  astonishment — I  may  say,  the  enthusiasm — of 
the  traveller  when,  having  reached  the  summit  of  this  line  of 
rocks,  he  discovers  in  the  interior  of  the  circus  five  populous 
cities,  surrounded  by  gardens  of  luxuriant  vegetation,  relieved 
in  dark  green  against  the  reddish  background  of  the  river-bed 
of  the  Mzab.  Around  him  the  barren  desert — death ;  at  his 
feet,  life  and  evident  proof  of  an  advanced  civilization." 

Mzab  is  a  republic,  or  rather  a  commune ;  there  are  no 
poor  nor  beggars ;  all  the  citizens  belong  to  the  police  depart- 
ment, and  they  are  so  jealous  of  their  country  and  suspicious 
of  strangers  that  in  some  of  the  cities  they  will  not  allow  a 
foreigner  to  stay  overnight.  There  are  schools  everywhere, 
and  they  all  know  how  to  read  and  write,  and  every  child  is 
made  to  help  in  agriculture. 

In  letters  of  Cardinal  Lavigerie*  we  find  the  following 
account  of  the  former  religion  of  the  Mozabites  and  of  the 
Kabyles  and  Touaregs,  tribes  which  we  shall  mention  in  the 
second  part  of  this  work : 

*  "Lettre  sur  la  Mission  du  Sahara."     CEuvres  choisies.     Poussielgue,  1884. 


34  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

"  At  the  time  of  the  Mussulman  invasion  in  Africa,  a  great 
number  of  Christian  families  were  transported  by  force  into  the 
depths  of  Arabia.  All  those  who  remained  were  obliged  to  sur- 
render their  plains  and  valleys  to  their  Mussulman  vanquishers, 
and,  in  order  to  escape  death,  to  take  refuge  in  the  wild  and 
uncultivated  ravines  of  the  Atlas  or  beyond  the  hills  of  sand  in 
the  oases  of  the  Sahara. 

"  In  the  northern  ranges  these  ancient  masters  of  Africa 
took  the  name,  little  by -little,  of  Kabyles ;  in  the  oases  of  the 
desert  they  called  themselves  Mozabites  and  Touaregs ;  but 
they  all  preserved  their  national  language  [the  Berber],  their 
civil  tradition,  and  for  hundreds  of  years  their  ancient  religion. 

"  Fourteen  times,  so  says  the^Arab  historian  Ebn  Khaldoun, 
these  people  were  forced  to  apostasy ;  fourteen  times  they  re- 
turned to  Christianity,  until  at  last,  the  sacerdotal  office  having 
been  gradually  destroyed,  Catholicism  could  no  longer  be  main- 
tained. .  .  .  After  the  XlVth  century  no  mention  is  made  of 
the  existence  of  Christian  communities  in  this  country  by  any 
of  the  historians  or  Arab  travellers  who  speak  of  Northern 
Africa." 

Monseigneur  Lavigerie  is  actively  engaged  at  the  present 
moment  in  establishing  missions  and  schools  in  Central  Africa, 
with  a  view  to  calling  these  apostates  back  to  Catholicism 
through  persuasion,  education,  and  charity. 

The  Kabyles  are  possibly  amenable,  but  scarcely  the  Toua- 
regs, the  dreaded  pirates  of  the  desert,  who  live  only  by  their 
evil  deeds. 

The  Director  of  the  Museum  and  Library  of  Algiers  showed 
me  a  photograph  of  a  chief  among  them  who  a  few  years  since 
had  made  himself  notorious  by  committing  a  vile  deed  of  treach- 
ery against  an  esteemed  missionary.  This  worthy  propagator 
of  our  faith  had  caused  the  chief  to  be  imprisoned  for  some 


COSTUMES   AND    CUSTOMS. 


35 


misdemeanor  and  deprived  him  of  his  weapons — spears,  knives, 
and  swords.  The  culprit  did  not  seem  to  care  how  long  he 
was  detained  in  prison,  but  he  mourned  as  if  for  a  son  the  loss 
of  his  cherished  damaskeened  cimeter,  a  venerated  heirloom 
handed  down  from  generation  to  generation.  He  begged  that 

<J  <_?  Oc3 

this  weapon,  if  no  other,  be  restored  to  him  after  the  expiration 
of  his   term  of   imprison- 
ment, which  he  promised 
to  endure  patiently,  how- 
ever long  it  might  be. 

So  penitent  did  he 
seem  that  in  a  short  time 
he  regained  his  liberty, 
and  when  his  sword  was 
returned  to  him  he  fell  on 
his  knees  and  prayed  for- 
giveness of  the  mission- 
ary, and  pledged  himself 
for  his  future  safety,  if 
the  good  man  would  con- 
sent to  accept  the  protec- 
tion of  his  strong  right 
arm.  The  missionary 
trusted  him  and  took  him, 
together  with  other  chos- 
en children  of  the  desert, 

as  his  escort  to  new  fields  of  Christian  labor.  He  was  butch- 
ered by  them  in  cold  blood.  A  few  companions  and  fellow- 
believers  of  the  missionary  shared  his  fate.  Mohammedanism 
has  a  strong  hold  on  these  apostates. 


THE   MISSIONARY  S    ESCORT. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

NEIGHBORS. 

ALGIERS,  as  I  have  said,  looks  like  a  great  irregular 
stair-way  of  terraces,  blind  and  blank  under  the  sun- 
shine. Years  ago,  under  Turkish  government,  the  ter- 
races were  frequented  by  the  Moorish  women  alone,  who  visited 
each  other  by  climbing  over  the  parapets  dividing  the  houses, 
and  during  the  day  no  Christian  male  except  the  consuls  was 
allowed  to  go  even  on  his  own  terrace. 

There  is  difficulty  now  in  gaining  access  to  the  roofs, 
and  Bai'a  used  to  caution  me  against  looking  over  the  walls 
into  other  courts ;  but  one  might  as  well  leave  a  boy  with  a 
caution  under  a  fine  apple-tree.  Not  that  I  disobeyed  on  pur- 
pose, but  it  was  impossible  to  move  about  without  seeing  the 
neighbors,  and  that  without  any  effort  or  prying. 

Bai'a's  bedroom  looked  on  to  the  colonnade  and  the  high 
doors  were  always  open,  but  when  a  curtain  was  dropped  it 
meant  the  same  as  shutting  the  doors  and  bolting  them ;  for 
the  Arabs  are  very  strict  about  their  customs,  and  a  flimsy 
curtain  can  be  trusted  for  privacy  as  well  as  a  strong  wooden 
barrier. 

Here  a  "weeny"  divan  was  made  with  three  mattresses,  four 
feet  by  two,  forming  three  sides  of  a  square,  with  cushions  at 
the  back.  Visitors  were  received  here,  and  it  was  astonishing 
to  see  the  number  her  "parlor"  would  accommodate,  as  well 


NEIGHBORS. 


37 


as  the  quantity  of  coffee  the  frugal  hostess  could  squeeze  out 
of  her  copper  coffee-pot — a  Brobdingnagian  thimble.  The  bed 
was  modern,  and  an  exception  to  the  old  Arab  custom;  but 
in  the  room  opposite,  which  was  occupied  by  her  old  mother, 
father,  and  Zohr,  the  mattresses  were  spread  on  the  floor.  At 
Biskra  I  have  seen  blankets  seven  yards  in  length  by  two  and 
a  half  wide,  in  which  a  whole  family, 
babies  and  all,  find  comfort  for  the 
night.  I  have  one  of  these,  only  for 
studio  requirements  it  must  be  un- 
derstood, made  by  hand,  and 
woven  with  all  sorts  of  lozenge 
and  square  designs  in  all  colors. 

Bai'a's  father  was  a  good-look- 
ing   and    gentlemanly    old 
man,  grave  and  dignified,  as 
well-bred  Arabs  always  are. 
He    spent   the    day    in    his 
little  shop,  for  it  is   not  beneath 
the    dignity    of    this    people    to 

gain  their  livelihood  by  occupying  a  little  pen  four  feet  square 
and  not  high  enough  to  stand  erect  in.  Descendants  of  the 
best  blood,  in*  fact,  are  often  found  among  merchants  in  a 
small  way,  who  sell  a  few  yards  of  calico,  eggs  and  butter, 
orange-flower  water,  and  for  one  sou  apiece  strings  of  orange- 
blossoms,  with  an  occasional  red  geranium  attached.  These 
latter  are  worn  by  the  women  round  their  heads  like  a  tur- 
ban, for  adornment  as  well  as  for  the  pleasant  perfume. 

Next  to  a  commercial  grandee  of  this  description  you  will 

find  a  patriarch  versed  in  the  Koran,  and  possessing  the  power 

of  writing  extracts  from  the  book  of  the  Prophet,  and  through 

them,  and  his  own  venerated  mediation,  of  insuring  the   indi- 

3 


ZOHR  S    CRADLE. 


38  WINTERS   IN    ALGERIA. 

vidual — made  happy  possessor  of  the  valuable  document  by 
paying  a  few  sous — against  disease,  bad  luck,  the  evil -eye,  and 
innumerable  misfortunes.  The  patriarch  spends  most  of  his 
time  seated  on  a  well-worn  cushion  at  the  entrance  of  his 
"  sanctuary,"  with  his  pipe,  pen,  and  inkstand  by  his  side, 
gazing  up  the  street  for  hours,  muttering  over  his  chaplet  as 
he  runs  the  beads  through  his  fingers,  and  mumbling  a  Salaam- 
Alek  to  passing  friends. 

A  charming  old  acquaintance  of  mine,  near  whose  sancti- 
fied abode  I  made  several  studies  and  took  refuge  when  it 
rained,  seemed  to  have,  perhaps  three  times  a  week,  in  writing 
these  charms  on  eggs  an  extensive  practice  at  one  sou  each. 
I  can  assure  the  reader  that  I  worked  near  him  on  two  con- 
secutive mornings  from  half-past  eight  till  noon,  and  can  testi- 
fy to  watching  but  one  job,  which  was  to  write  a  charm  on  an 
egg  while  an  old  woman  waited  for  it.  I  am  sorry  that  I  did 
not  ask  the  exact  translation ;  but  the  phrase,  in  all  probabil- 
ity, was  intended  to  insure  the  freshness  of  her  treasure  until 
the  old  lady  reached  home,  and  thereby  thwart  the  evil  prac- 
tices of  the  grocer  from  whom  she  bought  it.  A  short  time 
after  the  old  woman  with  her  egg  had  left  the  scribe,  I  was 
somewhat  surprised  at  seeing  pass  like  a  flash  between  the 
canvas  upon  which  I  was  at  work  and  my  nose,  and  smash  at 
my  feet,  a  good -sized  squash,  the  mushy  remains  of  which 
went  splashing  and  spattering  down  the  steep  street.  The 
evil  intentions  of  the  boy  who  threw  this  esteemed  vegetable 
at  my  head  were  evidently  frustrated,  as  he  had  neglected  to 
have  a  charm  written  on  it  in  order  to  attain  his  object. 

These  charms  are  more  frequently  written  on  paper,  to  be 
folded  and  enclosed  in  amulets,  which  are  generally  square  or 
triangular  in  shape,  and  made  of  silk,  leather,  and  tin.  As 
they  believe  in  the  efficacy  of  these  scraps  of  paper,  so  are 


WOMEN   AT   THE    FOUNTAIN    OF   ABD-EL-RHAMAN. 


NEIGHBORS.  41 

they  superstitious  about  paper  generally;  they  object,  for  in- 
stance, to  going  before  French  authorities  to  settle  their  griev- 
ances against  each  other,  preferring  verbal  discussions  of  their 
case  in  presence  of  their  cadi,  for  they  fear  that  all  sorts  of 
harmful  words  may  be  written  —  besides  the  name  of  God — 
and  subsequently  used  to  their  condemnation.  Children  wear 
the  charms  round  the  neck  or  tied  to  their  cap ;  men  and  wom- 
en wear  them  on  their  person,  sometimes  above  the  elbow,  and 
in  their  garments ;  horses  have  them  attached  to  the  band 
passing  across  their  chest,  to  protect  them  from  the  evil -eye. 
Those  worn  by  the  women  of  the  higher  and  wealthy  classes 
are  enclosed  in  richly  engraved  cases  of  gold  and  silver,  and 
suspended  to  chains  slung  over  the  shoulder  and  passing  round 
the  waist ;  they  add  greatly  to  the  richness  of  their  costume, 
and  form  part  of  their  wealth. 

"  Tell  me,  Bai'a,  what  you  do  when  you  fall  ill.  I  suppose 
you  call  in  a  doctor?" 

"  Oh  no !  The  men  may  do  so  when  they  are  sick,  and  our 
Arab  doctors  are  far  superior  to  the  French,  but  we  women 
go  to  the  marabout.  He  writes  a  few  words  from  certain  chap- 
ters in  the  Koran,  such  as  these :  '  God  is  the  best  protector. 
He  is  the  most  merciful  of  those  who  show  mercy ;'  or,  '  A 
guard  against  every  rebellious  devil,'  etc.  This  paper  we  chew 
and  swallow,  and  with  a  little  water  which  he  gives  us  from 
the  sacred  well  of  the  mosque  of  Sidi  Abd-el-  Rhaman.  we 
need  no  more,  and  in  a  few  days  we  recover." 

There  had  recently  been,  however,  a  striking  instance  of  a 
woman  who  had  made  pilgrimages  to  consult  all  the  mara- 
bouts of  the  surrounding  country,  and  had  probably  chewed 
up  a  small  stationer's  supply  of  foolscap,  besides  alum,  hob- 
nails, burnt  corks,  and  other  efficacious  remedies  administered 
by  old  midwives  and  sorceresses,  as  well  as  drinking  the  sa- 


42  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

cred  water  aforesaid,  without  recovering.  The  kind  of  relief 
she  obtained  at  their  hands  caused  others  besides  the  original 
disorder.  After  much  suffering  on  her  part,  her  husband — for 
he  was  the  difficult  customer  to  manage — was  urged  to  call 
in  a  French  surgeon,  and  after  demurring  for  some  time,  in 
order  that  the  burnt  corks  and  holy  waters  might  have  one 
more  chance  to  assert  their  healing  powers,  finally  consented 
to  allow  "a  dog  of  a  Christian,"  the  surgeon,  the  privilege  of 
seeing  his  wife.  Certain  conditions,  however,  were  to  be  ob- 
served by  the  Christian ;  one  of  them  was  that  the  patient 
should  partially  conceal  her  face.  I  am  told  that  she  whim- 
pered and  screamed,  to  express  her  horror  at  the  idea  of  re- 
ceiving such  a  stranger  in  her  bedroom ;  but  these  emotions 
were  in  keeping  with  her  education,  which  teaches  her  to  "as- 
sume a  virtue"  in  the  presence  of  her  husband,  through  fear 
of  him  more  than  from  a  sense  of  modesty.  In  another  place 
I  shall  refer  to  this  trait  in  the  character  of  the  women,  who, 
sometimes  very  handsome  and  gorgeously  gotten  up,  were  only 
too  glad  to  pull  aside  their  white  silken  hai'k,  raise  their  veil, 
and  enter  into  conversation  with  others  than  their  husband, 
when  the  chance  occurred  and  the  place  was  safe. 

In  his  valuable  work  on  "  The  Modern  Egyptians,"  Mr. 
Lane  says,  on  the  subject  of  charms : 

"  The  most  approved  mode  of  charming  away  sickness  or 
disease  is  to  write  certain  passages  of  the  Kuran  on  the  inner 
surface  of  an  earthenware  cup  or  bowl ;  then  to  pour  in  some 
water,  and  stir  it  until  the  writing  is  quite  washed  off,  when 
the  water,  with  the  sacred  words  thus  infused  in  it,  is  to  be 
drunk  by  the  patient.  These  words  are  as  follows :  '  And  he 
will  heal  the  breasts  of  the  people  who  believe;'  ch.  ix.,  v.  14. 
'Wherein  is  a  remedy  for  men;'  ch.  xlv.,  v.  71,  etc.,  etc.  Sim- 
ilar virtues  are  ascribed  to  a  charm  composed  of  the  names 


NEIGHBORS.  43 

of  the  '  As-hab  El-Kahf '  (or  Companions  of  the  Cave,  also 
called  the  Seven  Sleepers)  together  with  the  name  of  their 
dog.  These,  it  is  said,  were  Christian  youths  of  Ephesus^  who 
took  refuge  from  the  persecution  of  the  Emperor  Decius  in  a 
cave,  and  slept  there,  guarded  by  their  dog,  for  the  space  of 
three  hundred  years.  The  names  are  sometimes  engraved  in 
the  bottom  of  a  drinking -cup,  and  more  commonly  on  the 
round  tray  of  tinned  copper  which,  placed  on  a  stool,  forms  the 
table  for  dinner,  supper,"  etc. 

The"  incongruity  and  inconsistency  of  superstition  is  very 
noticeable  in  the  case  cited  above,  where  the  charm  is  attrib- 
uted by  Moslems  to  the  names  of  the  "  Seven  Sleepers,"  who 
are  Christians,  and  to  the  virtues  of 

"  A  sect  they  are  taught  to  hate, 
And  are  delighted  to  decapitate," 

whenever  the  opportunity  presents  itself.  By  a  similar  freak 
they  also  do  honor  to  the  dog,  the  faithful  guardian  of  the 
same  Christians.  Needless  to  say  that  with  the  Arab  "  Chris- 
tian," "dog,"  and  "Jew"  are  terms  synonymous  with  villain, 
blackguard,  sneak,  and  cheat.  "  Emshi  Rooah,  ya  kelb !"  (Clear 
out,  begone,  you  dog !),  is  an  anathema  for  our  benefit,  my 
Christian  brethren,  when  a  Moslem  has  come  to  the  point 
where  he  is  willing  to  risk,  in  our  hearing,  the  solidity  of  his 
cranium  and  the  flexibility  of  his  jawbone.  The  hatred  which 
exists  between  Arab  and  Jew  is  very  marked,  and  "  Youdi  " 
(damned  Jew)  is  a  term  that  he  reserves  for  one  of  that  race, 
and  uses  also  when  he  wishes  to  exhaust,  in  one  ejaculation, 
his  vocabulary  of  curses  against  a  member  of  his  own  per- 
suasion. Concerning  different  religions,  I  was  once  told  that 
the  Jews  were  bad,  and  would  never  be  forgiven  by  the  Mos- 
lems, for  they  ought  to  know  better,  but  that  the  Arabs  felt 


44  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

charitable  towards  the  poor  deluded  Christians,  for  they  did 
the  best  they  knew  how,  and  would  find  a  certain  amount 
of  compassion  from  the  Almighty. 

"  The  custom  among  the  Arab  men  of  allowing  a  tuft  of 
hair  to  grow  on  the  crown  of  the  head,"  Mr.  Lane  tells  us, 
"  the  rest  of  the  head  being  shaved,  is  said  to  have  originated 
in  the  fear  that  if  a  Moslem  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  an 
infidel  and  be  killed,  the  unbeliever  might  cut  off  the  head  of 
his  victim,  and,  finding  no  hair  by  which  to  hold  it,  put  his  im- 
pure hand  into  the  mouth  in  order  to  carry  it."  Another  ver- 
sion is  that  the  tuft  will  be  convenient  to  take  hold  of  on  the 
day  of  resurrection.  When  Arabs  are  beheaded,  which  to  them 
is  the  most  terrible  death,  as  the  body  does  not  go  entire  be- 
fore the  great  and  final  tribunal,  friends  come  forward  to  the 
guillotine  to  ask  permission  to  put  the  head  and  body  together; 
for  the  head  and  body  are  thrown  by  this  lugubrious  engine 
of  destruction  into  separate  baskets. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE    STREETS. 

I  REMEMBER  a  certain  dealer  in  charcoal  and  kindling- 
wood.  His  stock  in  trade  was  of  appalling  multiplicity, 
and  yet  nothing  appeared  to  be  worth  buying :  half  a 
dozen  bundles  of  charcoal,  each  of  which  could  be  carried  in 
a  man's  hat  and  bound  with  a  wisp  of  alfa-grass — wire  salad- 
strainers,  eggs  in  one  of  them,  and  a  long  feather,  which  used 
to  be  white,  in  the  other — all  this  merchandise  was  shown  at 
the  door.  Inside  the  emporium  stood  a  counter  made  of  one 
board  and  supported  on  three  columns,  formed  of  a  large 
broken  oil-jar,  sardine-boxes,  and  tin  cans,  which  had  contained 
"  oiliness  "  of  some  kind.  As  to  what  was  above  the  counter, 
on  it,  under  it,  and  hanging  from  the  ceiling,  let  my  reader 
imagine  it  by  recalling  to  his  memory  what  he  has  seen  in  the 
way  of  a  collection  of  useless  rubbish  at  some  fourth  -  class 
auction  sale.  These  cherished  stores  had  remained  undis- 
turbed for  months  and  years,  and  the  effect  of  a  uniform  cloud 
of  charcoal -sittings  which  lay  upon  them  may  be  imagined. 
Oh,  what  harmony  in  blacks,  how  various  they  were  on  the 
greasy  jars  and  cans,  and  how  the  spiders  did  haul  the  flies 
"  over  the  coals  !"  And  the  dealer,  what  was  he  like  ?  A 
sickly  and  dusty -complexioned  Moslem  of  the  lower  class, 
crouching  in  a  narrow  alcove,  and  snoozing  all  day  long,  only 
rousing  himself  from  his  torpor  on  hearing  the  yells  of  a  cus- 


46 


WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 


tomer,  or  to  go  and  buy  a  one  sou  loaf  of  bread,  a  cup  of  sour 
milk,  and  a  few  dry  dates  to  keep  soul  and  body  together.  I 
made  studies  from  his  threshold,  and  witnessed  a  business 
transaction  provoked  by  a  moaning  old  woman. 

The  bargain  was  a  long  struggle  between  poverty  and 
misery  for  three  sous'  worth  of  charcoal ;  the  hag  finally  took 
a  franc  from  one  corner  of  her  handkerchief  and  anxiously 
waited  for  the  change,  which  the  merchant  brought  to  light 


OLD    FOUNTAIN,  RUE    BAB-EL-OUED,  ALGIERS. 

from  a  gourd  in  which  he  fished  until  he  found,  among  rusty 
nails,  dried  orange-peel,  and  French  soldiers'  buttons,  seven 
sous  green  with  verdigris ;  then,  to  make  up  the  franc,  he 
needed  ten  sous,  which  he  happened  to  have  in  silver.  This 
coin  had  been  hidden  in  a  small  porcelain  hair-pomade  pot, 
and  would  not  be  induced  to  come  forth  without  the  aid  of 
an  antiquated  reed -pen.  Now,  this  subject,  badly  fed,  clothed 
in  dirt  and  rags,  sleeping  at  nights  (as  well  as  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  day)  in  his  den,  paid  rental,  taxes,  and  the 


THE   STREETS.  47 

fee  for  his  license,  besides  gaining  a  livelihood  and  permanent 
shelter.  He  was  a  peg  above  the  street  vender  of  whom  one 
sees  pitiable  examples.  A  decrepit  old  man,  or  miserable 
woman  with  hollow  eye  and  sunken  cheek,  will  spread  on  a 
remnant  of  a  meal-bag  or  matting,  on  the  stone  pavement  of 
the  street,  in  the  same  spot  and  day  after  day,  a  very  limited 
stock  of  vegetables  —  a  string  of  onions,  a  handful  of  leeks,  a 
few  scraps  of  henna,  and  a  block  or  two  of  gray  rock-salt. 

In  a  certain  street  there  are  a  dozen  of  these  venders, 
and  every  morning  a  receiver  of  taxes  makes  his  round  and 
collects  from  each  one  the  sum  of  two  sous ;  and  he  has  to 
fight  for  it,  for  they  seldom  pay  without  protest.  Continuing 
to  examine  the  grades  of  poverty  on  a  descending  scale,  we 
come  to  the  nonentity  who  does  nothing,  eats  next  to  nothing, 
but  exists  by  begging.  "Ana  meskeen  !"  (I  am  poor;  please, 
sir,  a  little  sou  !)  And  yet  the  wretches  will  seldom  consent 
to  pose  for  an  artist  or  photograper,  so  great  is  their  super- 
stition and  their  fear  of  abuse  at  the  hands  of  their  fellows. 
A  miserable  specimen  of  humanity  hobbled  past  a  photogra- 
pher one  day  and  mumbled  in  Arabic,  "  If  he  takes  my  por- 
trait, I'll  smash  his  machine  !"  In  fact,  it  may  be  said  that  in 
Arab  streets  the  "  camera  is  mightier  than  the  cannon."  The 
sight  of  a  glistening  lens  glaring  from  under  a  black  cloth 
strikes  terror  into  an  Arab's  soul. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

INCIDENTAL  CHARACTERIZATION. 

AMONG  the  pure-blooded  Algerines  you  must  not  ex- 
pect to  find  men  of  a  business  turn  of  mind,  strictly 
speaking.  The  shop  is,  for  a  blue  blood,  his  place 
of  rendezvous  for  his  friends ;  he  sees  and  hears  everything 
that  transpires,  and  it  gives  him  an  occupation ;  he  puts  a 
fixed  price  on  his  goods,  and  listens  to  no  beating  down ;  or 
if  he  accepts  an  offer,  it  is  with  indifference ;  if  he  refuses,  he 
waves  his  hand  and  says,  or  means,  "La-la"  (No;  you  can't 
have  it).  The  Jews  and  Syrians  keep  the  larger  shops,  and 
always  ask  a  very  much  higher  price  for  their  goods  than 
they  are  willing  to  take.  I  will  record  only  one  anecdote  of 
this  system  of  negotiation  in  an  exaggerated  form,  practised 
in  this  case  by  an  Arab,  who  had  learned  the  tricks  of  the 
trade.  The  Place  du  Gouvernement  and  the  arcades  in  front 
of  the  cafes  were  his  places  of  business.  From  his  basket 
and  shoulder  he  would  offer,  say  a  gandoura  (gown  worn 
under  the  burnoose),  .a  pair  of  boots  of  red  leather,  and  an 
ostrich -feather  fan. 

"  Forty-five  francs  each,  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  francs 
for  all  three." 

"  Don't  want  them ;  have  plenty  of  such." 

"  Here,  you  good  gentleman,  I  go  to  Biskra  to-morrow; 
take  all  for  one  hundred — eighty — sixty ;"  and  so  on  down  to 


INCIDENTAL   CHARACTERIZATION. 


49 


twenty-five  for  the  lot.  I  believe  his  trip  to  Biskra  has  not 
yet  come  off;  but  I  made  a  bargain  because  the  articles  were 
thrust  upon  me. 

For  more  business-like  transactions  the  Rue  Porte  Neuve 
is   one   of  the    most    interesting   streets.      It   is    enlivened  by 


RUE    DU    DTABLE,   ALGIERS. 

the  sound  of  hundreds  of  shoemakers'  hammers,  but  the  ener- 
getic workmen  are  mostly  French,  Maltese,  Italian,  and  Span- 
ish. The  shoes  they  make  are  almost  entirely  for  the  Arab 
market ;  broad,  and  without  heels,  they  scarcely  cover  the 
toes,  and  if  the  heel  and  toes  touch  the  shoes  at  the  ends 
the  purchaser  considers  himself  satisfied  as  to  fit ;  corns  and 


50  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

in -growing  nails  are  of  no  consequence;  he  shuffles  his  feet 
out  and  in  on  entering  and  leaving  the  mosques;  so  does  he 
in  cafes  and  at  home. 

The  cafe  has  been  so  often  described  and  painted  that  I 
will  confine  myself  to  one  of  its  specialties — that  is,  the  game 
of  draughts.  With  a  great  deal  of  practice  and  study  the 
Arab  plays  the  game  well;  he  scarcely  makes  a  move  without 
rubbing  two  fingers  on  the  square  where  he  intends  placing 
his  "man,"  and  when  he  breaks  through  the  ranks  of  his  ad- 
versary and  arrives  at  the  back  row,  thereby  converting  his 
"  man  "  into  a  "  king,"  the  "  man  "  is  never  crowned,  but  is  re- 
membered by  both  players.  Whether  his  form  be  tlfat  of  an 
old  cork,  button,  or  chip,  the  "  man  "  is  sent  tottering  about 
on  the  worn  and  uneven  surface  of  the  board,  the  squares  of 
which  are  rudely  cut  in  relief. 

The  inmates  of  the  cafe  will  play  at  draughts,  or  look  on 
for  hours — we  might  as  well  say  for  years,  and  be  done  with  it. 
No  remark  is  ever  made  by  the  Arab  about  the  balmy  at- 
mosphere, the  sunlight,  and  the  blue  sky,  which  make  such  a 
strong  impression  on  the  mental  and  physical  organization  of 
the  northerner ;  neither  does  he  express  any  appreciation  of 
the  beautiful  aspects  of  nature;  cold,  heat,  rain,  or  shine  is  all 
the  same  to  him.  He  strolls  about  in  a  pelting  rain  with  calm 
indifference,  wrapped  in  a  hand-woven  burnoose,  almost  water- 
proof, or  sits  for  weeks  in  silent  resignation  until  the  storm 
has  passed.  An  umbrella  carried  by  him  is  as  much  out  of 
place  as  it  would  be  in  the  hands  of  a  soldier  or  a  policeman, 
and  yet  many  have  adopted  it.  The  hard-working  man  finds 
comfort  in  soldiers'  old  red  pantaloons  which  he  picks  up,  very 
second-hand,  at  the  Place  de  Chartres,  where  one  sees  cargoes 
of  cast-off  clothing  unpacked  from  cases  just  arrived  from 
Europe. 


NEAR   THE    KASBAH,  ALGIERS. 


INCIDENTAL   CHARACTERIZATION.  53 

Fortunately  these  articles  are  to  be  worn  threadbare,  most- 
ly by  colonists  and  other  Europeans,  and  the  Arab  is  still  left 
at  least  with  his  ample  burnoose,  a  dignified  cache-misere,  which 
covers  anything  like  an  incongruous  pea-jacket. 

We  are  inclined  to  imagine  that  the  Arab  is  more  grace- 
ful and  of  more  noble  bearing  than  other  human  beings;  but 
divest  him  of  his  long  flowing  burnoose  and  turban  of  many 
folds  and  turns,  then  dress  him  in  cap  or  straw  hat,  tight 
trousers,  shoes,  and  cutaway  coat,  and  you  will  see  that  "Cest 
r habit  qui  fait  le  motne"  Or,  to  reverse  the  experiment,  clothe 
a  swarthy  Italian  in  burnoose  and  turban,  and  you  convert  a 
Neapolitan  model,  organ-grinder,  or  possible  bandit  into  a  si- 
lent and  mysterious  Mohammedan,  who  seems  to  be  absorbed 
in  whispering  recitations  from  the  Koran,  and  in  the  contem- 
plation of  a  projected  pilgrimage  to  Mecca. 

Leaving  the  noise  of  the  shoemakers'  hammers  below  us  as 
we  go  higher  and  higher  up  towards  the  Kasbah,  rising  a  step 
in  every  two  yards,  we  come  upon  a  crowd  of  burnooses  hud- 
dled together,  closely  packed  on  a  long  bench  in  front  of  a 
cafe,  others  choking  up  the  entrances  to  little  shops.  They 
form  a  hedge  on  either  side  of  the  street. 

A  stalwart  auctioneer,  half  smothered  in  hai'ks,  gandouras, 
and  other  second-hand  wearing  apparel,  rushes  boisterously 
back  and  forth,  crying  out  his  last  bid,  the  veins  swollen  in  his 
neck  and  temples,  and  the  perspiration  rolling  down  his  cheeks. 

To  the  roumi  (or  innocent  stranger  in  a  strange  land),  he  is 
very  obsequious  and  considerate,  for  he  tells  him  in  a  most 
plausible  and  altogether  charming  manner  that  the  last  bidder 
repented  his  rash  offer  of  five  dollars  for  a  piece  of  silk  fabric 
which  would  be  really  superfluous  in  his  wardrobe,  and  was 
prepared  to  relinquish  all  claim  on  the  article  in  case  another 
customer  was  found. 


54 


WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 


"  So  here  it  is,  monsieur,"  addressing  me ;  "  you  can  have  it 
for  three  dollars  and  one  franc  fifty  centimes." 

"  But  where's  the  chap  who  offered  five  dollars  ?" 

"  Oh,  he  is  not  serious ;  nev- 
er knows  what  he  wants,  and 
can't  pay  for  it  when  a  thing  is 
sold  to  him." 

"  Yes,  but  how  about  the 
next  highest  bidder?" 

"Ah,  he  has  gone  away  by 
this  time." 

"  Gone  on  to  Biskra,  eh,  like 
the  dealer  of  the  Place  du 
Gouvernement  ?" 

All  this  was  simply  a  ruse 
to  make  me  believe  that  the 
article  was  cheap.  He  thought 
that  the  uneducated  ear  of  the 

roumi  could  not  distinguish  the  difference  between  hamsa 
douros  (five  dollars)  and  zousch  douros  (two  dollars),  which  lat- 
ter figure  was  what  he  was  shouting  from  good  sound  lungs. 


YAMINA    OF   THE    KASBAH. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

WHERE   I    PITCHED   MY   EASEL. 

FOUR  o'clock  was  always  a  convenient  time  for  me  to 
stop  work,  as  the  sun  was  low,  the  light  in  the  narrow 
streets  had  fled,  and  the  chilliness  of  the  approaching 
evening  was  sometimes  keenly  felt.  The  old -clothes  market 
was  then  an  unceasing  attraction.  A  certain  Ain  Kalah,*  who 
is  to  distinguish  himself  in  a  future  chapter,  was,  notwith- 
standing the  error  of  his  ways,  a  gentleman ;  tall  and  grace- 
ful, quiet  and  sympathetic,  industrious,  and  so  obliging  that 
he  often  took  from  his  ample  pocket  a  handful  of  small  sil- 
ver, from  which  I  was  invited  to  "help  myself" — as  a  loan, 
of  course.  Remembering  the  stalwart  auctioneer  and  his 
tempting  accumulation  of  stuffs  and  costumes,  the  reader  will 
know  why  I  needed  loans  occasionally.  It  was  all  the  more 
generous  on  the  part  of  Ain  Kalah,  for  he  dealt  in  old  clothes 
as  well  as  in  new  silk  stuffs  from  his  own  looms,  and  I  was 
a  constant  customer. 

This  tiny  shop  was  at  a  convenient  angle  of  the  street, 
within  winking  range  of  the  energetic  crier,  and  in  case  of  a 
sudden  shower  of  rain  the  divan,  covered  with  4a  gazelle's  skin, 
was  a  refuge;  and  coffee  and  cigarettes  were  a  pastime,  aside 


*  Ain  Kalah  was  a  nickname  for  Ain-Hharoon,  for  the  former  means  cour- 
tesan with  the  black  eyes. 


56  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

from  the  interest  which  the  street  afforded.  An  old  woman 
who  had  stationed  herself  at  the  same  corner  for  forty  years, 
and  had  sold  bread  all  that  time,  was  still  there,  sheltered 
from  the  storm  by  an  enormous  umbrella.  Only  two  small 
loaves  sometimes  remained,  .and  yet  she  would  not  go  until 
driven  away  by  rain  or  darkness.  Her  dwelling  may  have 
been  a  miserable  abode,  and  the  street  her  real  home.  She 
was  always  veiled,  and  covered  to  the  eyebrows  with  her  heavy 
woollen  hai'k.  The  mere  fact  of  her  retaining  her  position  at 
that  very  corner  for  forty  years  may  serve  as  an  indication 
to  the  reader,  and  give  him  some  idea  as  to  where  to  find  the 
most  animated  part  of  the  town.  Four  streets  meet  at  this 
point,  and  a  door  six  feet  wide  might  be  placed  under  the 
archway  which  connects  them.  In  all  probability  there  was 
a  door  in  olden  times,  closed  at  night  to  shut  off  one  quarter 
of  the  town  from  another,  as  was  the  custom  in  many  Oriental 
cities. 

There  were  few  modern  improvements  here ;  and  were  it 
not  for  an  occasional  gas -lamp  of  French  design,  and  the 
names  of  the  streets  systematically  placed  at  the  corners,  and 
in  the  French  language,  one  might  easily  imagine  one's  self 
in  the  midst  of  a  fanatical  people,  and  could  single  out  many 
a  face  which  would  be  in  keeping  with  one's  preconceived  idea 
of  what  a  cruel  enthusiast  should  look  like.  Fanatical  they 
may  be  still,  but  so  many  restrictions  have  been  put  on  their 
religious  ceremonies  that  they  have  but  little  opportunity  for 
showing  emotions  which  they  might  otherwise  betray. 

Opposite  the  old  bread-woman  was  a  greasy  fritter-bakery, 
or  "  fryery,"  which  was  a  centre  of  attraction,  not  only  for  small 
boys  and  old  negresses,  but  for  the  lover  of  the  dilapidated 
picturesque.  Before  attempting  to  make  a  study  of  the  bakery, 
I  thought  it  important  to  ascertain  whether  sitting  room  could 


WHERE   I    PITCHED    MY   EASEL. 


57 


THE    GREASY    FRITTER-SHOP. 


be  found,  for  every  inch  along  the  walls  of  this  busy  thorough- 
fare was  nicely  calculated  and  occupied. 

I  had  learned  one  characteristic  trait  in  the  prejudices  and 
religious  training  of  the  Moor,  and  that  is,  he  will  seldom  make 
objection  to  your  sitting  at  his  door  for  the  purpose  of  "mak- 
ing images"  of  things  around  you,  or  to  your  painting  his  shop, 
and  even  the  semblance  of  himself  sitting  in  it ;  for,  so  long  as 
you  do  this  of  your  own  accord,  and  without  consulting  him, 
you  accept  all  the  responsibility  for  your  actions,  and  his  con- 
science is  clean,  inasmuch  as  he  has  not  sanctioned  what  he 
considers  sin  against  his  Koran,  which  upholds  to  the  letter 
4 


58  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

the  commandment,  "  Thou  shalt  not  make  any  graven  image." 
But  if  you  ask  his  permission  to  sit  on  his  threshold  in  order 
to  work  such  a  black  deed  as  making  a  study  from  nature,  he 
will  close  his  eyes  and  sway  his  head  in  such  a  way  that  any- 
thing like  pushing  the  demand  is  out  of  the  question.  This 
was  the  case  with  a  devout  and  dignified  Moor  who  occupied 
a  stall  next  to  the  bread-woman.  He  had  already  shaken  his 
head  at  my  proposition  to  lean  my  back  against  the  shutters 
of  his  house  of  business  in  order  to  paint  the  "  frittery ;"  but  I 
confess  to  the  perfidy  of  squeezing  myself  and  paraphernalia 
between  his  shutters,  his  baskets  of  egg-plant,  bags  of  pota- 
toes, and  boxes  of  mandarins,  and  the  bench  of  the  old  woman, 
who  complacently  moved  as  far  into  the  street  as  prudence 
would  allow.  I  did  this  at  mid-day,  while  he  was  at  prayers  in 
the  mosque.  When  .he  returned  and  found  that  my  human 
frame  hid  only  the  half  of  his  shop,  he  seemed  very  pleased ; 
but  when  he  saw  the  sketch  growing,  and  the  portraits  of  some 
of  the  street  folks,  he  was  greatly  delighted ;  for  is  it  not  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  wickedness  of  human  nature  to  laugh  at  the 
expense  of  fellow- beings?  His  neighbors  had  been  taken  at  a 
disadvantage,  and  he  enjoyed  the  joke.  The  Mohammedans' 
reason  for  not  approving  portraiture  of  any  kind  is  that  at  the 
resurrection  the  author  of  an  imitation  of  one  of  God's  creat- 
ures will  be  confronted  with  his  work,  and  will  be  asked  to  put 
life  into  it  and  make  it  move ;  being  unable  to  do  this,  he  will 
be  sent  to  perdition. 

The  Moor  above  mentioned  is  so  called  in  distinction  from 
Arab  because  it  has  become  the  custom  to  apply  the  term 
Moor  to  the  city  merchant,  or  idle  occupant  of  a  bazaar,  to  the 
tailor,  or  the  weaver,  and  the  term  Arab  to  the  nomads  of  the 
plain,  who  dwell  in  tents. 

Our  Moorish  friend  of  few  words  possessed  the  characteris- 


WHERE   I    PITCHED   MY   EASEL.  59 

tic  features  of  the  race :  pale  oval  face,  large  dark  eyes,  aqui- 
line nose,  and  rather  effeminate  appearance.  Handsome  and 
polite,  too,  he  was ;  but  as  I  did  not  wish  to  wear  his  affability 
threadbare  on  first  acquaintance,  and  had  become  hardened  to 
the  curiosity  of  the  ever-changing  crowd,  I  transplanted  my 
person  and  working  apparatus  to  the  very  centre  of  the  whirl- 
pool, namely,  under  the  archway  six  feet  wide,  the  connecting 
link  of  the  four  thoroughfares  ;  but  I  had  made  up  my  mind 
this  time  to  "charge"  the  " f rittery,"  and  nothing  short  of  an 
earthquake  would  have  succeeded  in  dislodging  me  ;  for  I  had 
made  previous  attempts,  but  had  abandoned  my  studies  for  se- 
rious reasons. 

Everybody  and  everything  passed  through  the  arch  like  a 
fluffy  skein  of  silk  drawn  through  the  eye  of  a  darning-needle; 
let  me  be  imagined  in  the  eye  of  the  needle,  and  some  idea 
will  be  formed  of  how  small  I  had  to  make  myself.  Fish -mon- 
gers with  great  baskets  of  sardines  and  huge  slimy,  slippery 
catfish  trailing  on  the  ground,  left  finger-marks  and  traces  of 
fins  on  my  side  pockets.  Young  girls  with  boards  on  their 
heads,  laden  with  dough  ready  for  the  oven,  rushed  along  at 
full  speed,  but  managed  to  steer  clear  of  everything ;  donkeys, 
with  big  panniers  filled  with  garbage  from  the  street,  were  driv- 
en by  a  member  of  the  ash-barrel  fraternity,  carrying  a  bell  at 
his  waist;  other  donkeys,  laden  with  fresh  roses  for  sale,  offered 
a  sweet  contrast  to  their  ambling  brethren  with  bell  accom- 
paniment; blear-eyed  Israelites,  shouldering  huge  packages  of 
muslin  and  calico,  passed  with  doleful  and  nasal  cry  from  house 
to  house,  and  the  haggling  that  went  on  through  a  crack  in 
the  door,  and  from  the  court  and  from  the  terrace,  about  a  half- 
yard  of  cotton  stuff,  was  often  irritating  to  listen  to. 

The  stream  of  passers-by  was  continuous   until  the  lull  at 
mid-day  for  luncheon    and  prayers  at  the  mosques  ;    then  the 


6o 


WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 


streets  were  almost  deserted,  and  I  could  occasionally  look  at 
my  canvas  to  see  what  I  was  doing  ;  whereas  during  the  hours 
of  heavy  traffic  my  eyes  were  wont  to  wander  towards  the  boys 
who  munched  raw  carrots  and  artichokes,  in  emulation  of  our 
own  darling  turnip  and  green-apple  urchins  of  the  North.  My 

attention  was  drawn  in  oth- 
er directions  to  sniffling 
and  smooching  babies  on 
the  backs  of  big  sisters  of 
six  or  eight  years,  bowed 
down  under  greasy  rags 
and  the  weight  of  their 
burdens  —  both  babies  and 
nurses  having  their  cheeks 
rouged,  their  chin,  forehead, 
and  wrists  tattooed,  and 
wilted  flowers  stuck  into 
their  hair  and  anklets,  while 
soap  and  water  were  en- 
tirely neglected.  These 
wretched  little  beings, 
though  as  troublesome  as 
gnats  on  a  summer's  day, 


JEWISH    CALICO-VENDER,  ALGIERS. 


Call     be         ot     rid     of     With 


sou.  But  my  more  con- 
stant preoccupation  was  the  imminent  danger  of  being  run 
over  by  blind  people.  These  unfortunates  know  every  stone 
and  door  in  their  street,  and  wander  about  the  town,  walk- 
ing with  the  greatest  confidence,  and  running  into  anybody 
with  the  utmost  unconcern.  "  Balek !"  (out  of  the  way)  I 
learned  to  scream  quite  like  a  native ;  but  these  wanderers 
did  not  always  balek  far  enough  out  of  my  way,  in  which 


WHERE   I    PITCHED    MY   EASEL.  6 1 

case  I  would  entreat  a  spectator  to  scream  for  me,  or  I  would 
wait  until  the  approaching  annihilator  should  receive  a  dig 
from  the  handle  of  my  paint-brush;  or,  again,  I  would  sta- 
tion the  youngsters  of  the  carrot  and  artichoke  at  different 
points  as  guards,  and  offer  them  a  salary;  but,  alas!  with  all  my 
precautions,  my  easel  and  canvas  were  toppled  over  as  many 
as  four  times  in  one  day,  not  to.  mention  other  pleasant  remi- 
niscences, such  as  having  the  colors  transferred  from  my  palette 
to  the  folds  of  a  burnoose  swishing  by ;  and  it  sometimes  hap- 
pened that  a  wealthy  native  merchant  was  the  victim,  and  had 
good  cause  for  regret  in  the  presence  of  Prussian-blue  on  his 
delicate  rose-colored  broadcloth. 

But  those  mishaps  were  pure  accidents,  for  there  are  few 
places  where  an  artist  is  treated  with  as  much  or  more  courtesy 
by  the  higher  classes,  and  is  so  little  bothered  by  the  common 
herd  as  here. 
4* 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE      MOSQUES. 

THE  mosques,  before  the  French  occupation  of  Algiers, 
numbered  over  one  hundred ;    there   are    now  half   a 
dozen,  without  mentioning  obscure  khoubas,  and  these 
have  undergone   so   many  "  modern   improvements "  that    they 
have  lost  a  great  deal  of  their  original  character. 

The  French  Government  has  seen  fit  in  some  instances 
to  replace  magnificent  tiles,  ancient  Moorish  and  Persian,  by 
many  square  yards  in  succession  of  the  commonest  kind  of 
blue  and  white  modern  tiles.  A  number  of  the  old  ones,  how- 
ever, still  remain  in  the  walls  of  the  mosque  of  Sidi  Abd-el- 
Rhaman,  and  attest  its  former  richness.  In  many  other  in- 
stances the  keepers  of  the  different  mosques  have  sold  the  tiles 
and  replaced  them  by  worthless  modern  ones ;  but  the  Govern- 
ment now  forbids  any  further  transactions  of  the  kind. 

The  exquisite  little  mosque  of  Sidi  Abd-el-Rhaman  stands 
above  a  garden  on  the  northern  slope  of  the  town  overlooking 
the  sea.  The  very  small  cemetery,  with  a  few  interesting  mar- 
ble tombstones,  is  a  quiet  retreat  where  women  stroll  about  in 
the  sunlight  and  lean  against  the  parapet,  looking  at  the  blue 
Mediterranean,  the  shadows  of  the  eucalyptus,  mulberry,  and 
fig  trees  playing  on  their  glittering  silken  hai'ks.  Here  there 
once  grew  an  enormous  caroubier  (a  kind  of  locust-tree),  whose 
thick  foliage  and  out-stretched  limbs  covered  the  larger  por- 

, 


THE  MOSQUES.  63 

tion  of  the  cemetery.  This  old  friend  exists  no  longer,  and 
the  glaring  white  tombs  have  lost  their  protector,  but  they  still 
have  surrounding  them  a  number  of  fig-trees.  The  caroubier 
grows  to  enormous  size ;  its  branches  are  exceedingly  tortuous, 
and  the  leaves  thick  and  oblong.  We  are  told  that  the  fruit — 


IN   THE    CEMETERY   OF   SIDI    ABD-EL-RHAMAN. 

a  sweet,  long,  brown  pod  like  that  of  a  bean — is  the  locust  re- 
ferred to  in  Scripture  as  being  the  food  of  St.  John  the  Baptist 
in  the  wilderness. 

The  marabout  Sidi  Abd-el-Rhaman  is  interred  in  an  inner 
chapel  by  the  side  of  his  teacher  and  predecessor;   the  same 


64  WINTERS   IN  ALGERIA. 

khouba  stands  over  their  graves  and  is  profusely  surrounded 
by  flags  and  banners.  The  carved  wood  of  the  khouba,  paint- 
ed and  gilded,  is  said  to  have  been  executed  by  a  negro,  a  cap- 
tive or  slave.  The  flags  are  ornamented  with  inscriptions 
from  the  Koran  sewed  on  in  different  colored  silks.  The  Arabs 
are  fond  of  telling  strangers  that  this  little  chapel  contains  ob- 
jects the  total  value  of  which  is  one  million  francs :  lamps, 
ostrich  eggs,  pieces  of  embroidery,  and  stuffs  of  silk  and  gold, 
as  well  as  a  number  of  gimcracks,  such  as  garden  mirror-balls 
of  various  colors,  all  hanging  from  the  ceiling.  Over  the  mi- 
rhab  (the  small  alcove  which  indicates  the  direction  of  Mecca, 
as  the  Moslem  in  prayer  always  turns  his  face  towards  the 
tomb  of  Mohammed)  are  hung  several  small  pyramidal  cakes 
of  earth  from  the  grave  of  the  Prophet. 

Abd-el-Rhaman  and  his  companion  in  ashes  have  slept 
under  the  venerated  soil  for  about  six  hundred  years,  and  dev- 
otees continue  to  make  pilgrimages  to  this  shrine  to  invoke 
assistance  in  settling  their  disputes^  in  curing  their  diseases, 
and  in  obtaining  wealth  and  happiness.  Faith  in  old  saints 
such  as  these  may  still  remain,  but  of  faith  in  the  marabouts 
of  to-day  the  same  cannot  be  said,  for  the  more  intelligent 
Arab  will  confess  that  this  has  been  shaken  since  they  have 
allowed  the  French  to  take  possession  of  his  country  and  make 
laws  to  annoy  him,  putting  restrictions  on  his  ways  of  living, 
registering  deaths,  births,  and  marriages,  prohibiting  religious 
processions,  and  imposing  taxes. 

On  certain  days  of  the  week  the  interior  of  the  mosque, 
this  delicious  retreat  from  the  outer  world,  is  crowded  with 
men  and  ^vomen.  The  whole  assembly  is  a  mass  of  white 
drapery  and  burnooses ;  of  the  women  nothing  is  seen  but 
their  eyes,  for  they  draw  their  haiks  closely  under  the  chin, 
carefully  concealing  their  arms  and  hands. 


THE   MOSQUES.  65 

There  seems  always  to  be  room  for  one  more,  and  the  new- 
comer glides  in  and  finds  a  squatting -place,  with  shoes  in 
hand,  the  soles  of  which  are  put  together  in  order  that  the 
profane  dust  of  the  street  shall  not  desecrate  the  sacred  pre- 
cincts. The  service  consists  in  the  reading  of  the  Koran,  and 


WOMEN  S    UPPER    ROOM    IN    THE    MOSQUE    OF    ABD-EL-RHAMAN. 

those  assembled  repeat  certain   passages  with   the   thalcb  (the 

• 

scholar),  who  is  generally,  in  all  mosques,-a  very  old  man. 

At  the  tomb  of  the  great  marabout,  women  with  their  chil- 
dren and  men  come  at  all  times  of  the  day  to  pour  out  their 
grievances  to  the  ever-sympathetic  ear  of  the  sidi.  The  women 


66  WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 

especially  have  acquired  a  remarkable  talent  for  dolorous  into- 
nations, and  they  seem  to  shed  real  tears  in  their  out  bursts 
of  sorrow  on  entering  the  sacred  chapel ;  but  when  they  meet 
other  female  friends,  their  weeping  gives  place  to  lively  gossip 
and  chatting.  A  certain  number  of  circuits  round  the  tomb, 
with  prayers,  in  a  given  number  of  successive  days  are  equiva- 
lent to  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca. 

I  was  much  annoyed  at  times  when  I  was  interrupted  in 
making  studies  in  this  charming  chapel  by  pilgrims  who  under- 
took a  thorough  house-cleaning  with  the  garments  which  they 
wore.  A  swarthy  devotee  from  Morocco  began  one  morning 
by  a  thorough  dusting  of  the  tombs  and  shaking  of  the  flags, 
then  a  sweeping  of  the  carpets  and  matting,  accompanying 
himself  with  an  interminable  recitation  of  verses  from  the  Ko- 
ran in  a  loud  voice.  Being  persuaded  that  he  intended  that 
this  pilgrimage  should  be  a  thorough  equivalent  for  a  trip  to 
Mecca,  I  soon  saw  that  there  was  nothing  left  for  me  to  do 
but  to  get  my  freshly  painted  canvas  out  of  his  way,  shut 
my  color-box,  and  leave  the  field  to  him.  He  apparently  did 
not  know  that  there  was  any  one  else  under  that  roof  but  him- 
self and  the  marabout. 

Nor  was  it  without  varied  trials  of  this  kind  that  I  suc- 
ceeded in  finishing  my  study  of  the  tomb ;  and  this  was,  more- 
over, the  very  sketch  which  the  Queen  of  Sheba  happened  to 
select  for  sticking  wet  against  another  canvas,  thereby  obliging 
me  to  recommence  my  experiences  at  the  tomb. 

The  women  showed  a  reasonable  amount  of  curiosity  in 
wishing  to  see  studies  upon  which  I  was  at  work.  When  two 
or  more  were  together  they  would  sometimes  enter  into  con- 
versation after  having  timidly  approached  my  easel,  and  on  re- 
ceiving encouragement  they  would  even  leave  their  veil  turned 
up  over  the  forehead,  but  only  at  times  when  they  knew  that 


THE   MOSQUES.  67 

men  of  their  race  were  well  out  of  the  way.  They  were  too 
much  afraid  of  the  husband's  matraque  to  run  any  risk  of 
being  beaten  with  it ;  for  the  men  are  good  at  single-stick, 
and  possess  formidable  specimens  made  of  hard -wood.  They 
make  use  of  them  occasionally  in  their  families.  "  Chanty  be- 
gins at  home."  Yet  in  other  instances  the  women  run  from 
Europeans  as  if  for  their  lives.  The  worthy  and  hard-working 
Kabyles,  in  whose  memory  the  outrages  of  the  French  soldiers 
are  deeply  embedded,  look  with  suspicion  on  foreigners ;  this 
race  in  particular,  when  in  war  among  themselves  or  with  near 
neighbors,  almost  invariably  respected  the  women.  The  same 
cannot  be  said  of  the  French  when  they  conquered  the  Ka- 
byles at  first,  and  later  quelled  their  insurrections. 

A  jug  containing  water  from  the  sacred  well  at  the  en- 
trance always  stood  on  the  window-sill  in  the  chapel,  and  the 
Arabs  almost  invariably  took  a  long -draught  after  their  prayers. 
The  lovely  little  minaret  covered  with  ancient  tiles,  many  of 
which  represent  birds  flying,*  rises  above  the  main  entrance. 
An  old  cypress  leans  into  the  narrow  passage  leading  to  the 
entrance.  Beggars  throng  the  passages  and  steps.  It  is  a 
sight  worth  seeing  to  witness  the  distribution  of  kouskous 
made  to  them  on  certain  Fridays  in  December.  The  lame 
and  blind  of  both  sexes  and  of  all  ages  have  a  general  scram- 
ble for  the  basin  containing  the  luxury,  thrust  what  they  can 
get  into  their  mouths,  scrape  up  the  rest  from  the  ground, 
dirt  and  all,  and  stow  it  away  about  their  waists  or  in  their 


*  The  reader  will  bethink  him  here  of  the  commandment  against  making 
images  of  living  things ;  but  the  Moslem  designer  of  tiles  reconciles  his  ar- 
tistic with  his  religious  feelings  by  a  curious  device.  He  draws  the  birds 
full  of  flight  and  life,  but  traces  a  line  round  the  neck.  Their  throats  are 
cut,  therefore  they  must  be  dead !  Thus  his  conscience  is  saved. 


68 


WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 


greasy  caps,  and  he  who  gets  a  piece  of  mutton  or  a  bone  is 
indeed  lucky. 

The  two  largest  mosques,  and  those  most  frequented,  are 
near  the  boulevards  and  overlook  the  harbor.  The  worship- 
pers are  of  different  sects — the  Hanefi  and  Maleki — and  they 


MOSQUEE    DE    LA    PECHERIE   AND    KASBAH. 

occasionally  squabble  and  even  fight;  in  fact,  they  have  gone 
so  far  as  to  cause  the  French  soldiers  to  intervene. 

While  painting  in  one  of  the  mosques — Djama^a-el-Kebir — 
I  often  noticed  a  dark  Othello,  who  seemed  to  want  every- 
thing his  own  way  in  the  court,  where  the  fountain  for  ablu- 


THE    MOSQUES.  69 

tions  was  deluging  the  marble  pavement.  He  was  evidently 
a  fanatic  of  the  most  violent  nature,  and  would  abuse  his  fel- 
lows right  and  left  if  they  kept  on  their  shoes  to  walk  across 
the  court  before  entering  the  mosque,  which  surrounded  the 
court  on  all  sides.  This  was  probably  not  sectarianism,  but 
zeal. 

Every  visitor  to  the  mosque  is  expected  to  take  off  his 
shoes  out  of  deference  to  the  feelings  of  the  people,  for  the 
same  reason  that  a  man  entering  one  of  our  churches  with 
a  cigar  in  his  mouth  and  hat  on  his  head  would  not  only 
offend  our  feelings  but  would  be.  shown  to  the  door.  The 
reader  can  therefore  imagine  the  feelings  of  the  Arabs,  and 
can  multiply  them  by  ten  of  our  own,  when  they  see  stran- 
gers walk  over  their  sacred  mats  and  carpets,  and  examine 
their  mirhab  and  mimbar  (the  pulpit). 

A  French  officer  in  top-boots  once  showed  me  a  mosque, 
walking  about  as  if  the  place  belonged  to  him,  and  told  me 
to  keep  on  my  shoes.  As  we  came  out,  the  offended  Mos- 
lems looked  at  the  officer  with  eyes  that  seemed  to  send  out 
sparks  of  fire.  Instead  of  sitting  for  hours  without  shoes  on 
the  cold,  wet  pavement,  or  even  in  the  interior,  when  making 
studies,  I  adopted  the  plan  of  putting  on  socks  outside  of  my 
shoes,  which  answered  the  same  purpose.  It  does  not  make 
a  neat-looking  foot,  but  that  is  of  minor  importance,  especially 
among  the  people  with  whom  we  are  dealing. 

The  "  Mosquee  de  la  Pecherie  "  gives  the  Oriental  charac- 
ter to  the  large  Place  du  Gouvernement,  in  the  centre  of 
which  stands  an  equestrian  statue  in  bronze  of  the  Duke  of 
Orleans,  cast  out  of  the  cannon  taken  at  the  conquest  of  Al- 
giers. It  is  not  much  to  our  purpose  to  give  the  names  of 
statue  and  sculptor;  the  interest  here  lies  in  the  contrast  of 
a  Moorish  monument  to  a  .<modern  European  statue — a  con- 


70  WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 

trast  which   marks  distinctly  the  meeting  of  different   nations 
so  widely  separated  in  art,  ideas,  religion,  and  customs. 

A  charming  modern  French  writer,  speaking  of  his  impres- 
sion of  the  Arabs,  says,  "  It  is  interesting  to  see  them  sitting 
with  bare  heads  in  the  sun,  but  it  would  be  much  more  in- 
teresting if  we  could  know  what  was  going  on  in  that  head." 


CHAPTER   XI. 

MOSLEM   SHRINES  AND   LAW  COURTS. 

EVERYBODY  is  to  be  seen  promenading  in  the  charm- 
ing Place  du  Gouvernement,  with  its  belt  of  trees.  It 
is  a  kind  of  neutral  ground  which  every  one  respects, 
and  one  can  be  entertained  for  days  by  simply  studying  the 
different  types — Jews  both  rich  and  poor ;  sheiks  and  thalebs, 
whose  turbans  and  garments  are  kissed  by  the  passing  Arabs ; 
dealers  in  gimcrack  jewellery,  daggers,  cigar-cases,  fans,  cos- 
tumes, blankets,  carpets,  brass  articles,  platters,  etc. ;  an  occa- 
sional woman  from  El-Aghouat,  with  a  child  on  her  back,  gen- 
erally on  a  begging  tour;  young  bootblacks  by  the  dozen,  who 
will  cirer  mossou  (equivalent  to  "shine  'em  up,  sir")  for  one  sou. 
If  monsieur  refuses,  the  young  and  vivacious  leech  will  black 
his  own  face  and  "shine  it  up,"  with  the  hope  of  obtaining  a 
recompense ;  while  other  companions  attract  monsieur's  atten- 
tion by  turning  somersaults,  hand-springs,  walking  across  the 
boulevard  on  their  hands,  and  similar  accomplishments. 

On  two  sides  of  the  square,  carriages  stand  day  and  night. 
The  brisk  little  horses  take  one  off  si^ht-seeinq-  or  for  a  drive 

O  O 

in  the  suburbs  at  a  good  round  pr.ce. 

The  Place  is  also  the  central  starting-point  of  omnibuses 
and  tram-ways,  which  are  of  the  characteristic  southern  build — 
that  is,  not  very  substantial,  painted  in  bright  colors,  and  cov- 
ered with  dust.  The  jingling  bells  and  cracking  whips,  under 


72  WINTERS    IN   ALGIERS. 

a  sparkling  sun  and  the  sharp-cut  shadows  of  the  plantain- 
trees,  give  wonderful  animation  to  the  scene.  The  omnibuses 
running  to  the  Jardin  d'Essai,  St.-Eugene,  Pointe  Pescade,  Bel- 
cour,  Frais  Vallon,  and  other  environs  bear  amusing  names  in 
big  letters,  such  as  "  Gazelle,"  "  Berceau  d'Amour,"  etc. 


COURT   OF   THE    KHOUBA   AT   BELCOUR, 

Arab  women  patronize  the  conveyances,  and  on  Fridays 
they  go  in  crowds  to  Belcour,  where  there  is  a  cemetery  and  a 
neat  little  khouba,  frequented  on  that  day  by  the  fair  sex  only. 
A  column  in  the  centre  of  the  court  supports  trellises  of  grape- 
vine. Tombstones  of  marble  and  slate  are  numerous  in  the 


MOSLEM    SHRINES   AND   LAW   COURTS.  73 

court  as  well  as  out  in  the  cemetery.  At  the  head  of  each 
tomb  is  a  slab  of  marble  with  one  or  two  round  holes  in  which 
flower-pots  are  set,  or  cups,  placed  there  that  the  birds  may 
drink  from  them ;  the  natives  believe  that  these  birds  after- 
wards fly  away  towards  heaven  with  a  greeting  from  the  soul 
reposing  beneath ;  a  charming  sentiment. 

The  keeper  of  this  khouba  was  old  and  blind ,  he  passed 
his  time  in  sweeping  the  carpets  and  matting,  then  resting  and 
singing  to  himself.  He  would  dust  the  sacred  tomb  with  his 
handkerchief,  which  he  afterwards  washed  and  then  dried  in 
the  sun.  To  satisfy  my  curiosity,  I  sent  a  child  to  translate 
for  me  and  ask  if  he  was  happy,  or  what  he  could  desire.  He 
shook  his  head.  "  No,  I  want  nothing ;  I  am  never  ennuye,  and 
I  am  quite  happy." 

He  knew  his  surroundings  so  well  that  he  did  scarcely  any 
groping.  He  told  me  one  day  to  move  away,  as  the  khouba 
was  to  be  scrubbed  and  whitewashed.  Oh,  why  was  it  that  as 
soon  as  I  commenced  a  study  my  subject  required  whitewash 
the  next  day  ?  But  I  took  advantage  of  the  old  man's  infirm- 
ity and  continued  working  until  I  was  startled  by  the  gruff 
voice  of  a  neighbor,  who  asked  me  why  I  didn't  "  clear  out " 
when  I  knew  that  the  women,  to  whose  drudging  lot  all  such 
work  falls,  were  waiting  for  me  to  go  in  order  to  begin  their 
periodical  cleaning.  Resistance  was  not  advisable ;  so  I  en- 
joyed in  the  delicious  sunlight  my  "ticket  of  leave"  from  art. 
When  I  was  left  alone,  a  mischievous  peep  through  the  door 
which  had  shut  me  out  assured  me  of  the  unattractiveness  of 
the  old  females,  and  I  wondered  why  they  should  not  have  con- 
sidered it  as  much  of  a  treat  to  look  at  me.  The  old  ladies 
were  not  aware  that  several  young  faces  had  been  unveiled,  and 
had  cast  furtive  glances  over  the  parapet  while  I  was  at  work. 

I  was  soon  rewarded  for  my  expulsion  by  the  sight  of  an 
5 


74 


WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 


interesting  ceremony — the  funeral  of  a  child.  In  a  fresh  grave 
the  young  boy  was  laid,  wrapped  in  a  yard  or  two  of  white  cot- 
ton. A  smaller  hole  had  been  dug  at  the  bottom  of  the  grave, 
and  served  as  a  coffin,  being  covered  with  flat  slabs  of  stone  to 
prevent  the  earth  from  falling  directly  on  the  body.  Twenty 
or  thirty  men  stood  around  in  silence,  the  earth  was  hastily 
replaced,  and  temporary  stones  were  set  at  the  head  and 

feet;  the  cushions  and  pieces 
of  embroidery  in  which  the 
body  lay  on  the  donkey  that 
bore  it  to  the  final  resting- 
place  were  put  back  on  the 
animal,  and  the  procession 
moved  silently  away.  The 
women  and  girls  always  come 
afterwards  to  weep  on  the 
grave  and  place  flowers,  and 
especially  branches  of  myrtle. 
They  often  spend  the  greater 
part  of  three  days  around  a 

new  grave,  sitting  on  matting  and  carpets  which  they  spread 
for  their  comfort,  and  perhaps  to  receive  their  friends  and  fam- 
ily respectably. 

Djamaa-el-Kebir  (the  great  mosque),  near  the  Mosquee  de 
la  Pecherie,  dates  back  to  the  eleventh  century,  but  there  is 
little  to  indicate  the  antiquity  of  the  building.  At  the  entrance 
is  the  court,  where  the  cadi  reigns  supreme,  settling  family 
grievances  and  disputes,  divorce  cases,  etc.  I  met  there  an  old 
acquaintance,  Mohammed,  who  was  now  a  staid  father  of  a  fam- 
ily. Years  ago  he  posed  for  me,  and  would  spin  out  long  le- 
gends and  stories  of  personal  troubles  and  real  love  affairs.  His 
explanation  of  the  planetary  system  was  ingenious,  but  a  little 


COURT  AND  FOUNTAIN  OF  DJEMAA  EL  KEBTR 


MOSLEM    SHRINES    AND   LAW   COURTS.  75 

behind  the  times.  Our  earth  rests,  according  to  him  and  his 
forefathers,  on  a  bull's  horn ;  the  bull  stands  on  another  world, 
which  reposes  again  on  another  bull's  horn,  and  so  on  to  the 
seventh  bull ;  but  when  it  comes  to  the  question  of  where  the 
seventh  bull  stands,  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  inquire  further 
into  God's  work,  and  must  be  content  with  what  he  has  been 
pleased  to  reveal.  The  origin  of  the  Arab's  hatred  to  the  Jews 
was  a  legend  which  he  told  with  religious  conviction.  Moham- 
med the  prophet  owned  a  large  park  filled  with  gazelles ;  the 
favorite  of  these  animals  had  horns  and  hoofs  of  pure  gold, 
which  attracted  one  day  the  eyes  of  a  Jew.  He  gave  chase, 
and  running  the  gazelle  down  secured  the  precious  metal. 

My  old  friend  Mohammed  pretended  to  be  waiting  round 
the  divorce  court  to  get  a  settlement  about  some  land  in  Kaby- 
lie ;  but  as  I  met  him  three  months  after  this  time,  and  learned 
that  he  had  lost  his  wife,  I  conjectured  that  he  had  been  simply 
waiting  his  turn  to  obtain  a  hearing  with  the  cadi,  and  to  say, 
"I  divorce  this  woman"- —which  makes  matters  easy  in  this 
country  for  a  man  who  feels  that  he  wants  a  change  in  his  do- 
mestic realm.  It  is  quite  as  easy  for  him  to  remarry  the  same 
woman ;  he  can  even  repeat  this  farce  three  times  (if  the  law  is 
the  same  as  in  Egypt);  but  if  he  is  thoroughly  dissatisfied  with 
his  help-meet,  and  has  made  up  his  mind  that  she  is  a  nui- 
sance, he  can  say,  "  I  divorce  this  woman  thrice,"  and  that's  the 
end  of  it.  Women's  rights  have  not  been  heard  of  here,  and 
the  fair  sex  have  nothing  to  say,  except  in  the  case  of  infidelity 
on  the  husband's  part.  My.  reader  may  be  amused  to  learn 
that  the  proof  in  this  case  becomes  next  to  impossible,  for  it 
must  be  the  declaration  of  four  eye-witnesses.  Now,  of  all  peo- 
ple the  Arabs  are  perhaps  the  most  suspicious  of  their  fellows, 
and  are  consequently  the  last  to  be  caught  at  any  illegal  flir- 
tation. 


76  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

In  the  cities  the  Arab  knows  what  is  going  on  at  home, 
and  has  his  eyes  about  him.  In  the  country  and  desert  he 
hides  his  tent  as  much  as  possible,  and  in  a  position  which  al- 
lows him  to  do  all  the  spying,  and  will  watch  a  stranger,  native 
or  foreign,  who  is  hunting  or  travelling,  until  he  is  quite  out  of 
si<rht  The  offended  wife,  then,  who  seeks  a  divorce  on  the 

o 

above  stated  grounds  has  but  little  hope  of  success.  Could  it 
have  been  this  very  Mohammed's  wife  that  I  saw  rushing  about 
the  outer  court  tearing  her  hair  and  clothes  in  anger,  and  giv- 
ing vent  to  her  feelings  of  injustice  ?  One  is  apt  to  wonder 
whether  Arabs  have  any  nerves,  those  contemptible  small  fibres 
that  trouble  us  so  much.  This  certainly  looked  like  nervous- 
ness, but  the  cadi's  secretary  succeeded  in  calming  her,  and 
the  trial  continued. 

The  trial  is  very  simple,  and  the  cadi  is  lawyer  and  judge  ; 
he  listens  to  the  case  with  considerable  attention,  it  must  be 
said,  and  gives  his  decision. 

I  have  no  authority  for  asserting  that  the  Cadi  of  Algiers 
does  not  exercise  his  powers  in  a  just  and  upright  manner,  but 
I  give  an  extract  from  the  observations  of  the  French  writer 
quoted  before,  on  the  way  in  which  some  of  the  cadis  pass  their 
judgments.  The  anecdotes  are  characteristic  of  the  quarrel- 
some, suspicious,  and  vindictive  nature  of  the  Arab  people : 

"  As  for  finding  out  the  truth,  as  for  rendering  an  equitable 
judgment,  it  is  absolutely  useless  to  think  of  such  a  thing. 
Each  party  brings  a  fabulous  number  of  false  witnesses,  who 
swear  on  the  ashes  of  their  fathers  and  mothers,  and  testify  un- 
der oath  to  the  most  barefaced  lies.  Here  are  examples :  A 
cadi  (the  venality  of  these  Mussulman  magistrates  is  proverbial, 
and  not  to  be  surpassed)  calls  in  an  Arab  and  makes  the  follow- 
ing proposition:  'Thou  wilt  give  me  twenty-five  douros  (dollars), 
and  wilt  bring  to  me  seven  witnesses  who  will  declare  in  writ- 


MOSLEM    SHRINES   AND    LAW   COURTS.  77 

ing  before  me  that  X owes  thee  sixty-five  douros.     I  will 

make  him  give  them  to  thee.'     He  brings  the  witnesses,  who 

declare  and  sign.     Then  the  cadi  calls  X ,  and  says  to  him, 

'  Thou  wilt  give  me  fifty  douros,  and  will  bring  before  me  nine 

witnesses  who  will  swear  that  B (the  first  Arab)  owes  thee 

one  hundred  and  twenty-five  douros.  I  will  make  him  pay  them 
to  thee.'  The  second  Arab  brings  his  witnesses.  Then  the 
cadi  calls  the  first  before  him,  and,  strong  in  the  deposition  of 
the  seven  witnesses,  makes  the  second  give  him  sixty-five  dou- 
ros. But  in  his  turn  the  second  protests,  and,  on  the  evidence 
of  his  nine  witnesses,  the  cadi  makes  the  first  pay  him  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty -five  douros.  The  share  of  the  magistrate  is 
thus  seventy-five  douros,  levied  on  his  two  victims.  The  fact  is 
authenticated.  And  yet  Arabs  will  seldom  appeal  to  the  French 
justice  of  the  peace  because  he  is  not  to  be  bribed,  whereas  the 
cadi  will  do  anything  for  money." : 


Guy  de  Maupassant,  "Au  Soleil." 


CHAPTER   XII. 

* 

A   FESTIVAL. 

IN  December,  to  celebrate  the  birth  of  the  Prophet,  the  flags 
and  banners  are  taken  from  the  tomb  of  Sidi  Abd-el-Rha- 
man  and  carried  to  the  cemetery  of  Oued-el-Kebir  (the  big 
river),  near  Blidah.  Here  they  decorate  for  several  days  the 
tomb  of  another  celebrated  marabout,  who  has  lain  in  a  beau- 
tiful ravine  under  noble  olives  as  quietly  and  as  long  as  the 
sidi.  At  this  season  the  sun  shows  himself  over  the  mount- 
ain at  nine  and  disappears  at  two  o'clock.  We  went  to  Bli- 
dah, and  the  morning  of  the  fete  we  took  a  conveyance  and 
followed  the  gorge  by  the  leaping  brook  for  about  two  miles. 
A  few  miles  beyond  Blidah  is  a  similar  ravine,  Les  Gorges  de 
la  Chiffa,  where,  through  the  dense  growth  of  bay,  olive,  fern, 
lentisk,  and  juniper,  runs  a  brook,  Le  Ruisseau  des  Singes. 
The  monkeys  are  frequently  to  be  seen  drinking,  or,  stretched 
on  the  limb  of  a  tree,  intently  engaged  in  that  fraternal  aid 
and  fellow-feeling  which  we  have  all  observed  in  our  zoological 
gardens.* 

*  "Their  depredations,"  says  Sir  L.  Playfair,  in  his  highly  interesting  book, 
Hand-book  Oi  "Algeria  and  Tunis,"  "are  sometimes  very  serious,  and  the 
natives  use  every  means  in  their  power,  short  of  shooting  them,  to  drive  them 
away.  They  entertain  a  superstitious  dread  of  killing  these  animals,  as  they 
believe  them  to  be  descendants  of  members  of  the  human  race,  who,  having 
incurred  the  Divine  anger,  were  deprived  of  speech." 


A    FESTIVAL. 


79 


TOMB    OF    SIDI-ABD-EL-RHAMAN. 


The  road-side  to  Oued-el-Kebir  was  white  with  dust,  and 
the  Arabs  were  walking  by  hundreds,  others  riding  on  donkeys 
and  packed  in  vehicles  of  all  sorts.  At  the  cemetery  we  found 
groups  of  women  among  the  whitened  tombstones,  waiting  as 
Orientals  can  wait,  for  the  ceremonies  and  performances  of  the 
day  and  night.  Blue  smoke. rose  from  the  crackling  fire  of 
improvised  cafes,  where  the  beverage  was  being  prepared  by  the 
gallon  ;  tents  were  being  made  with  large  squares  of  matting 
stretched  from  olive  boughs  to  the  sturdy  cactus,  and  the  rising 
sun  had  just  begun  to  gild  in  streaks  the  carpets  and  matting 
spread  out  for  visitors. 


So  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

A  few  of  the  well-to-do  families  were  having  tents  made 
for  them  of  haiks  and  the  superfluous  draperies  of  their  wear- 
ing apparel.  Towards  mid-day  the  crowd  had  increased  to 
two  or  three  thousand.  Several  sheep  and  a  bullock  were 
killed  in  the  midst  of  the  spectators,  who  witnessed  the  com- 
plete operation  of  skinning  and  cutting  up  of  the  animals  into 
pieces  as  large  as  the  hand,  all  ready  for  immediate  roasting 
over  coals.  The  operation  was  perhaps  clumsily  performed, 
but  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time. 

The  appearance  of  this  slaughtering-place  does  not  require 
description.  A  curious  case  of  either  fanaticism  or  weak  nerve 
must  be  mentioned — that  of  a  woman  who  was  the  object  of 
interest  for  some  moments.  She  lay  in  the  surrounding  acces- 
saries of  the  butcheries,  somewhat  in  the  same  position  as  the 
bullock.  As  the  latter  had  been  killed  on  the  holy  occasion 
of  the  Prophet's  birthday,  she  esteemed  it  an  honor,  like  oth- 
ers present,  to  be  spattered  with  the  blood  of  the  sacrificed 
animal,  but  she  was  overcome  with  emotion  and  fainted.  The 
Moslems  seemed  to  regard  the  occurrence  in  a  very  matter- 
of-fact  way,  and  allowed  her  to  recover  at  leisure,  but  finally 
assisted  her  to  stand,  and  I  believe  she  retired  into  the  hut 
of  the  keeper  of  the  cemetery. 

We  had  taken  luncheon  with  us,  being  prepared  to  spend 
the  day,  and  the  members  of  our  party  congratulated  them- 
selves on  not  being  obliged  to  depend  on  a  fresh-meat  lunch- 
eon and  other  camp-meeting  delicacies.  On  a  previous  occa- 
sion we  had  been  treated  to  panther  sausages,  which  were 
offered,  as  my  readers  may  presume,  as  a  rarity  and  a  deli- 
cacy. The  latter  quality  we  failed  to  appreciate.  Although 
quite  as  agreeable  to  the  taste  as  smoked  or  corned  beef,  they 
resembled  boot-heels  in  texture.  To  satisfy  one's  appetite  with 
them  would  have  required  the  whole  afternoon  for  mastication. 


A    FESTIVAL.  8 1 

The  Aissaoui  assembled  under  a  great  olive,  and  formed  a 
circle  of  about  thirty  musicians,  most  of  whom  played  rhyth- 
mic and  deafening  music  on  lar^e  tambourines.  There  was  a 

o  o 

general    call   for    a    certain    Mohammed,  one    of   their    regular 

o  o 

half-witted  dancers  and  fanatics.  He  appeared,  bareheaded, 
and  with  the  upper  part  of  his  body  almost  naked.  Crouch- 
ing with  the  musicians,  he  bes;an  nodding  in  time  with  the 

O  O  O 

music,  and  then  accompanied  it  with  groans  of  "  Allah !  Al- 
lah !"  He  soon  became  half  frantic,  and  jumped  to  the  centre 
of  the  ring,  his  head  swinging  all  the  while.  As  he  sank  to 
the  ground  from  exhaustion,  his  friends  made  several  efforts 
to  replace  his  dirty  rags  by  a  clean  white  gown,  which  they 
thought  him  justly  entitled  to,  but  it  was  all  in  vain;  he  fought 
against  it,  preferred  his  rags,  and  went  away  in  them.  An  old 
man  near  us  was  also  suddenly  seized  with  such  violent  emo- 
tions that  he  fell,  shaking  and  screaming  to  such  an  extent 

O  O 

that  his  brethren,  not  wishing  him,  for  some  reason,  to  get  up 
and  dance,  held  him  down  with  their  knees  on  his  chest  and 
legs  until  the  fury  of  his  religious  convictions  had  subsided. 
This  emotion  seemed  genuine,  and  we  were  assured  that  it  was, 
although  other  parts  of  their  religious  services,  or  rather  feats, 
appear  to  be  accompanied  with  jugglery  and  deception.  The 
members  of  the  sect  of  Aissaoui  claim  that  the  great  excite- 
ment of  dancing  and  of  their  religious  ecstasy  unnerves  their 
entire  frame  to  such  an  extent  that  it  renders  them  insensible 
to  the  stabs  and  burns  which  they  inflict  upon  themselves. 
Several  other  members  of  their  sect  entered  the  circle,  moved 
by  some  inspiration  to  dance  off  their  frenzy,  one  of  them  cry- 
ing out  for  a  red-hot  shovel,  which  he  bent  with  a  blow  on  his 
forehead,  licked  with  his  tongue,  and  bent  again  by  slapping 
with  the  palm  of  his  hand  ;  he  then  turned  his  heel  on  it  until 
his  flesh  burned  like  a  horse's  hoof  being  shod,  giving  out  a 
5— a 


82 


WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 


similar  odor.  This  performance  ended,  another  asked  for  a 
cactus-leaf  and  a  piece  of  glass;  these  he  bit  into,  devouring 
half  the  leaf  with  the  long  thorns,  chewing  and  apparently 
swallowing  the  glass,  and  took  his  seat  again  in  a  swooning 
condition,  moaning  after  his  excitement.  A  third  twirled  a 


NEGRO    FETE    AT    BLIDAH. 


large  wooden  ball,  into  which  was  fixed  a  long  and  sharp  iron 
spike.  Twisting  his  upper  eyelid  round  the  spike,  and  with 
the  other  hand  pulling  back  the  under  lid,  he  exposed  quite 
half  of  the  eyeball,  with  which  he  stared  at  one  in  a  demoniacal 
manner,  yelling  and  foaming  at  the  mouth  all  the  while.  The 


' 


A   FESTIVAL.  83 

sun  was  hot,  and,  like  the  Spanish  bulls  in  the  ring  in  summer, 
the  Aissaoua  warmed  up  more  and  more  to  his  duty. 

Still  another  exponent  of  the  creed  wildly  cried  out  for  a 
scorpion,  which  was  given  to  him  in  a  box.  The  courageous 
little  creature,  with  his  tail  up  ready  to  sting  (but  with  the 
venom  extracted  ?),  was  allowed  to  crawl  over  the  face  and 
arms  of  the  believer,  who  teased  him,  and  somewhat  wearied 
the  spectator,  before  performing  the  final  act  of  chewing  him 
up  alive. 

They  do  many  other  charming  (?)  tricks  which  delight  the 
innocent  looker-on — standing  and  lying  on  the  edge  of  a  sword, 
holding  live  coals  in  their  mouth,  singeing  their  faces  and  arms 
until  they  smell  like  chickens  being  prepared  for  dinner.  Last, 
but  not  least,  is  the  trick  (if  one  can  call  it  by  that  name)  of 
devouring  a  rabbit  alive,  hair  and  all.  This  refined  meal  is  par- 
taken of  by  two  Arabs,  who  frantically  bite  into  the  poor  beast 
like  wolves,  tearing  him  apart  with  their  teeth  and  hands, 
their  mouths  and  fingers  reeking  with  the  hot  blood  of  the 
rabbit,  which  is  still  trying  to  get  away. 

This  horrid  performance,  however,  was  not  carried  out  to 
the  end ;  everything  above  mentioned  was  witnessed  except 
devouring  of  the  rabbit  and  their  slashing  themselves  with 
knives,  for  the  French  Government  prohibits  the  drawing  of 
blood.  These  disgusting  sights  are  still  to  be  seen,  however, 
at  Biskra,  where  the  sect  retains  more  of  its  fervor.  The 
Aissaoui  can  be  seen  in  Algiers  weekly. 

What  gave  a  local  character  to  the  whole  scene,  where  the 
thousands  were  packed  in  amphitheatre  around  the  howling  Ais- 
saoui, was  the  high-pitched  "  You-you-you-you-you !"  uttered  by 
the  women  at  intervals  as  the  animated  actions  below  progressed 
in  interest  and  intensity.  The  women  were  all  sitting  together, 
and  as  the  evening  approached  they  appeared  not  unlike  the 


84  WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 

spectres  in  "  Robert  le  Diable."  The  cold  blue-white  tombs  and 
gravestones  now  in  deep  shade,  the  hundreds  of  long  tapers 
lighted  in  anticipation  of  the  night  procession,  the  glowing 
fires  of  the  cafes  under  the  long  sweeping  olive-boughs,  formed 
an  ensemble  of  color  and  mystery  that  seemed  quite  unreal. 
All  the  savage  elements  of  the  Mohammedan  religion  were 
there  unchanged,  and  many  of  the  devout  believers  would  have 
asked  nothing  better  than  a  pretext  to  annihilate  the  few  Euro- 
peans present  who  were  lost  in  the  crowd  of  burnooses  and 
hai'ks.  A  proof  of  this  is  an  incident  of  which  an  acquaintance 
of  mine,  a  photographer,  was  the  hero.  While  taking  instan- 
taneous groups  one  morning,  when  the  cemetery  was  crowded, 
he  became  the  object  of  invectives  from  all  sides,  for  he  hap- 
pened to  be  the  only  foreigner  then  present.  He  continued 
his  work,  trying  to  make  them  understand  what  it  meant,  but 
he  was  only  answered  by  a  shower  of  stones,  while  others 
rushed  on  him  with  sticks,  with  which  they  dealt  him  several 
blows,  and  his  camera  was  broken.  His  life  was  only  saved,  in 
all  probability,  by  a  stalwart  negro,  over  six  feet  in  stature, 
whom  he  had  employed  to  carry  his  apparatus,  and  who  bela- 
bored some  of  the  offenders  unmercifully  while  the  hated  Chris- 
tian made  his  escape. 

They  have  a  particular  dislike  to  the  camera,  and  have  be- 
come acquainted  with  the  noise  of  an  instantaneous  shutter,  as 
the  reader  may  infer  from  the  above.  A  colonist  who  had  lived 
in  Algeria  for  forty  years  told  me  how  he  passed  a  good  deal  of 
his  time  among  this  people,  how  he  had  visited  the  sheiks  in 
their  houses  and  others  in  their  tents,  how  he  had  been  wild- 
boar  hunting  and  partridge  shooting  with  them,  how  hospitable 
they  had  been,  inviting  him  to  spend  the  night  under  their 
tents  and  partake  of  their  food.  But  when  it  came  to  a  ques- 
tion of  making  everlasting  friends,  he  was  told  plainly  that  we 


A   FESTIVAL.  87 

were  admired  by  them  for  our  industry,  our  inventions,  our  rail- 
ways and  steamers,  our  good  institutions,  but  so  long  as  we 
were  Christians  that  was  an  insurmountable  barrier  to  perfect 
fraternity.  Upon  one  occasion  he  had  passed  through  a  village 
and  went  along  a  hot,  dusty  road,  but  was  soon  surprised  and 
somewhat  annoyed  at  being  stopped  by  the  son  of  the  sheik, 
who  came  galloping  after  him  in  person  to  ask  him  to  turn 
back  and  pay  his  father  a  visit.  When  he  entered  the  tent,  for 
it  was  in  a  douar  (where  the  settlement  is  composed  of  tents), 
he  found,  besides  the  host,  a  dozen  of  the  sheik's  old  friends, 
dignified  in  their  bearing.  After  he  had  remained  for  half  an 
hour,  passing  the  time  in  salutations  and  conversation,  in  smok- 
ing and  drinking  coffee,  he  rose  to  take  leave,  but  the  aged 
sheik  insisted  upon  his  staying  longer,  for  a  feast  was  being 
prepared  in  his  honor,  and  the  kooskoos  and  sheep  were  already 
over  the  fire.  The  ^traveller,  however,  could  not  remain,  as  duty 
demanded  his  presence  elsewhere.  Seeing  their  guest  could 
not  be  prevailed  upon  to  "  eat  bread  and  salt  with  them,"  they 
allowed  him  to  go,  but  requested  that  they  might  offer  up  a 
prayer  to  Allah  for  his  health,  happiness,  and  good  voyage.  All 
the  old  Arabs  formed  a  circle  round  the  guest,  and  with  hands 
closed  in  front  of  them,  the  palms  together,  began  to  recite  the 
Fathah — the  first  chapter  of  the  Koran — accompanying  thei'r 
recitation  by  opening  their  hands,  as  one  does  a  book.  (Fathah 
signifies  the  "beginning  or  opening  of  the  book.")  The  insur- 
rections at  different  times  prove  their  continuous  dislike  to  the 
French  domination;  but  the  object  of  the  Catholic  institutions— 
of  which  there  are  several  important  ones  in  the  country,  where 
Arab  children,  orphans  and  outcasts,  are  taught  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, as  well  as  our  ways  of  farming  and  other  accomplishments 
of  advanced  civilization — is  to  change  eventually  the  religious 
views  of  the  Algerines  and  make  good  citizens  of  them. 


88  WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 

Assembled  to  overflowing  at  the  little  mosque  at  Oued-el- 
Kebir,  inside  and  out  under  the  portico  were  men  praying  con- 
tinually, until  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  all  joined  in 
the  grand  procession  around  the  tomb  of  the  marabout,  which 
was  covered  with  drapery  on  all  sides. 

Unfortunately  at  this  hour  the  wind  swept  down  the  ravine, 
blew  out  most  of  the  candles,  and  wrecked  the  chandeliers, 
made  to  hold  several  dozen  tapers,  and  carried  on  a  pole  borne 
on  the  men's  shoulders.  The  dust  half  blinded  us,  and  so  we 
were  driven  to  the  conclusion  that  the  further  proceedings 
would  not  compensate  for  our  discomfort;  the  evening,  more- 
over, was  cold,  and  I  found  a  good  thick  burnoose  which  had 
been  lent  me  at  Blidah,  owing  to  the  unexpected  chilliness  of 
the  locality,  of  great  use.  Not  only  did  it  serve  me  in  lieu  of 
an  overcoat,  but  as  a  means  of  disguise ;  for  when  the  ladies  of 
our  party  paid  a  visit  to  the  old  wife  of  the  cemetery-keeper, 
into  whose  presence,  as  well  as  that  of  numerous  unveiled  fe- 
male guests,  men  were  naturally  not  admitted,  the  burnoose 
assumed  the  form  of  a  voluminous  hai'k ;  but  I  discreetly  re- 
mained in  the  court,  near  the  door,  befriended  by  the  obscurity 
of  the  clouds  passing  over  the  moon,  but  in  a  position  where  I 
could  see  all  that  was  going  on.  The  little  room  was  packed 
with  richly  dressed  women,  with  a  fresh  supply  of  henna  for 
their  hands;  rings,  bracelets,  gorgeous  head  kerchiefs,  velvet 
jackets,  embroidered  belts,  all  worn  in  the  correct  style.  A 
young  girl  wore  long  black  silk  gloves  to  the  elbow,  and  her 
silver  bracelets  and  rings  outside ;  fixed  in  her  hair  were  three 
diamond  ornaments  mounted  on  springs  and  set  to  imitate  mar- 
guerites. 

A  very  interesting  yojjhg  woman,  known  by  the  name  of 
Maboula  (the  feminine  gender  of  Maboul,  which  signifies  crazy), 
sat  in  the  midst  of  the  visitors  playing  the  derbouka  and  sing- 


A   FESTIVAL. 


-89 


ing;  her  burnoose  (for  she  had  adopted  this  simple  mantle) 
was  thrown  back,  showing  her  head  partially  shaved  like  a 
man's,  a  thick  long  tuft  of  black  hair  being  left  on  the  crown. 
Her  arms  were  thickly  tattooed,  and  she  bore  the  ordinary 
marks  tattooed  between  the  eyebrows,  on  the  cheeks,  and  chin. 


TOMBS   AT   SIDI-ABD-EL-RHAMAN. 


We  had  already  made  her  acquaintance  in  the  cemetery,  where 
she  was  sitting  alone ;  she  smiled  and  held  out  her  hand  to 
touch  ours,  then  gracefully  kissed  the  tips  of  her  fingers,  ac- 
cording to  the  pretty  manner  of  greeting  among  this  people. 
She  possessed  what  might  be  called,  .a  sweet  face,  and  was  not 

O  jf ", 

veiled.  She  had  been  sitting  in  this  quiet  retreat  all  day  long 
for  years,  and  seemed  perfectly  happy.  When  the  coffee  was 


90  WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 

being  handed  round  in  the  assembly,  and  the  charming  Ma- 
boula  was  singing  at  her  best,  my  hai'k,  which  I  was  little 
accustomed  to  wear,  fell  and  disclosed  my  hat  and  beard.  Al- 
though the  old  wife  chastised  me  (Maboula  smiling  and  con- 
tinuing her  song),  and  there  was  a  general  movement  of  sur- 
prise among  the  inmates,  I  beat  only  a  slow  retreat,  and  to  no 
great  distance ;  but  it  was  quite  far  enough  to  enable  me  to 
partially  hide  myself  under  a  dark  grape-vine  and  then  to  stum- 
ble over  a  young  bull.  This  animal  may  have  been  docile, 
and  may  have  taken  me  for  a  countryman  of  his  on  account 
of  the  burnoose,  but  my  activity  at  the  moment  gave  him  little 
chance  to  decide  on  my  nationality.  After  this  incident  we 
turned  our  backs  on  the  cemetery,  where  we  left  hundreds  of 
Arabs  to  spend  the  night  in  conversation,  praying,  singing, 
and  descended  the  stony  path  till  we  came  to  the  high-road, 
where  we  found  a  conveyance  going  to  Blidah. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE   NEGRO   COMMUNITY. 

WE  spent  several  days  in  this  town,  and  saw  the  ceme- 
tery of  Oued-el-Kebir  under  different  aspects,  and  our 
stay  afforded  us  opportunities  of  seeing  the  fete  cel- 
ebrated in  the  private  houses.     The  negro  community  always 
make  a  good   deal   of  such  occasions,  and  enter  with   charac- 
teristic gusto  into  the  spirit  of  the  entertainments.     They  are 
less  suspicious  than  the  Arabs ;  the  women  are  not  veiled,  but 
one  always  recognizes  the  "  darky  " — vain,  fond  of  finery,  with 
their  bump  of  self-esteem  ever  prominent. 

On  returning  leisurely  one  afternoon  from  a  stroll  through 
delightful  gardens  and  orange  groves,  for  which  the  locality  is 
famous,  we  were  attracted  by  a  noise  "  for  all  the  world  "  like  a 
threshing-machine ;  recognizing  the  deafening  tam-tam  in  the 
hands  of  sturdy  negroes,  we  soon  found  ourselves  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  place  of  festivities,  and  then,  by  cordial  invitation, 
in  the  midst  of  them.  It  was  a  one-story  house,  with  a  pictu- 
resque court  in  which  grew  a  few  young  trees  and  grape-vines 
on  trellises.  Over  a  roaring  fire  in  one  corner  of  the  enclosure, 
kouskous,  lentils,  and  mutton  were  boiling,  and  the  spectators, 
of  both  sexes,  sitting  around  on  matting,  were  applauding  the 
dancers  in  the  small  circle  in  their  midst.  A  jolly  old  negress 
was  making  merriment  by  her  grotesque  poses  and  expressions, 
winking  and  blinking  at  the  easily  amused  audience.  A  young 
6 


92  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

man,  with  a  scarf  round  his  chest,  and  wearing  nothing  else  but 
loose  pantaloons,  performed  some  of  the  Aissaoua  tricks  (for 
negroes  belong  to  this  sect),  holding  coals  of  fire  in  h^  teeth 
and  blowing  them  to  keep  them  alive,  singeing  his  arms  and 
chin  with  burning  wisps  of  grass,  not  forgetting  to  pass  a  tar- 
boosh for  collection  of  coin  every  now  and  then. 

It  is  customary  to  elect  a  queen,  who  presides  over  all  such 
gatherings,  and  holds  the  position  until  her  death,  when  another 
is  chosen — generally  an  old  woman  and  the  most  respected  in 
the  community.  She  is  gorgeously  arrayed  at  fetes  such  as 
these,  and  sits  on  a  throne  improvised  out  of  cushions  and  dra- 
peries, on  which  is  placed  a  large  flat  basket  in  front  of  her  to 
receive  gifts  from  the  spectators,  such  as  knives,  mirrors,  tas- 
sels, handkerchiefs,  and  anything  which  can  be  used  by  the 
dancers. 

While  we  are  enjoying  the  society  of  the  negro  element,  let 
us  accompany  them  to  one  of  their  most  characteristic  fetes. 
La  fete  des  feves  is  held  every  year  in  the  spring  on  the  coast 
at  Mustapha  Inferieur,  Algiers,  where  one  of  their  favorite  mar- 
abouts was  buried.  They  assemble  to  sacrifice  bullocks  and 
sheep  in  his  honor,  and  to  heal  or  prevent  disease  and  mis- 
fortune. These  animals  are  butchered,  with  incense  and  incan- 
tations, in  the  most  disgusting  manner  imaginable. 

A  hollow  place,  or  little  inlet  from  the  sea,  is  selected  in 
order  to  give  the  spectators  an  opportunity  of  witnessing  the 
sacrifice.  The  animal  has  his  throat  cut  with  a  big  knife,  and 
as  the  hot  blood  spirts,  it  is  caught  in  rude  earthen  bowls  and 
passed  to  those  who  wish  to  taste  it.  Then  comes  the  gor- 
geous queen  of  the  fete ;  this  year  she  was  an  old  negress,  in 
silks  and  fine  linen  (or,  more  properly  speaking,  curtain  mus- 
lin), in  scarfs  and  kerchiefs  and  jewellery — a  monument  of 
finery,  the  sight  of  whom  would  have  pleased  a  Semiramis. 


THE  NEGRO   COMMUNITY. 


93 


This  resplendent  queen  felt  the  importance  of  her  position, 
and  with  pomposity  she  approached  the  kicking  victim,  a  young 
bullock,  thrust  her  hands  and  arms  into  his  gurgling  throat, 
and  as  a  blessing  dabbed  the  foreheads  and  cheeks  of  the  by- 
standers who  thronged  round  her,  believing  probably  in  the 
efficacy  of  her  mediation  with  the  ancient  marabout. 

After  a  good  deal  of  smearing,  right  and  left,  of  her  own 
sex  as  well  as  the  negro  men,  she  withdrew,  while  the  beast 
was  expiring,  supported,  like  Moses  on  the  Mount,  by  her  ace- 
of- spades  companions.  She  was  bespattered  with  gore  from 
head  to  foot,  and  her  hands  were  still  unwashed,  although  she 
had  rolled  them  in  the  sand,. which  stuck  to  her  rin^s  and 

O 

bracelets ;  but  her  devout  subjects  kissed  them  and  her  gar- 
ments, and  conducted  her  to  one  of  the  tents,  where  cooking 
was  in  progress  and  coffee  was  continually  being  offered. 

Above  the  sandy  beach  the  rising  ground  was  green  with 
long  grass,  now  all  trampled  down ;  tents,  made  of  old  draper- 
ies and  matting  on  poles,  were  pitched  here  and  there ;  and  the 
glimpses  that  we  had  of  the  women  and  children,  dark  against 
the  sunlit  draperies,  were  most  picturesque.  Little  niggers  with 
porcelain  teeth  and  eyes  peeped  from  under  the  tents,  and  oth- 
ers ran  about  in  the  crowd.  Some  of  the  negresses  were  sur- 
prising in  character  and  make-up.  A  very  thin  woman,  as 
black  as  it  is  possible  for  skin  to  be,  looked  like  a  mummy  re- 
cently discovered  and  brought  to  life  by  some  modern  appli- 
ances of  electricity.  Yet  she  was  young,  and  even  pretty  —  a 
type  to  be  seen  and  wondered  at,  but  not  to  be  imagined.  We 
were  enveloped  in  a  cloud  of  coal  -  dust  at  one  spot,  where  resi- 
due had  been  thrown  from  the  locomotive  houses  near  by. 
Why  the  young  negro  men  chose  these  cinders  to  dance  on 
was  surprising,  when  they  had  grass  or  sand  all  around  them. 
The  dancers,  exceedingly  graceful  and  animated  to  an  immense 


94 


WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 


degree,  held  in  both  hands  large  castanets,  or  clappers,  made  of 
iron,  and  calculated  to  make  a  noise  scarcely  inferior  to  that  of 
an  express  train  running  over  a  succession  of  switches.  With 
an  accompaniment  of  a  dozen  drums,  and  of  songs  in  short 
phrases  and  ejaculations  by  the  performing  company,  they  made 


LA    FETE    DES 


themselves  heard,  as  the  reader  may  imagine,  at  a  great  dis- 
tance. What  can  the  racket  be  when  a  fete  in  the  middle  of 
Algiers  takes  place  in«  an  open  court  with  resounding  echoes  ? 
With  some  difficulty  I  gained  admission  to  a  very  Urge  house 
in  the  town  known  as  Dar  -  Sedjor  (the  house  with  the  tree), 
where  similar  fetes  are  held,  and  where  I  made  a  study.  There 
must  have  been  at  least  a  dozen  different  families  under  the 


THE  NEGRO   COMMUNITY. 


95 


same  roof.  I  knew,  to  my  annoyance,  that  half  a  dozen  strap- 
ping negroes  made  their  appearance  during  the  day,  and  each 
one  said,  in  a  different  way,  "  I'd  like  to  know  who  told  you 
that  you  might  plant  your  easel  in  my  house  ?"  I  had  previ- 
ously made  a  bargain  for  a  certain  length  of  time  at  so  much, 
and  my  sullen  landlord  would  have  threatened  to  evict  me  had 
I  not  begun  to  move  as  my  last  hour  was  striking.  In  the  cir- 
cle of  dancers  and  drummers  —  which  we  have  left  for  a  mo- 
ment— the  "  nigs  "  were  having  a  grand  time  of  it,  and  were  all 
amiable,  although  they  were  much  opposed  to  being  sketched, 
and  several  photographers  were  made  to  stop  operations. 

When  the  old  queen  and  attendants  had  flounced  around 
long  enough  with  their  blood -stains,  they  moved  off  down  to 
the  sea  to  have  a  general  wash.  They  sometimes  throw  them- 
selves into  the  water  just  as  they  are,  in  all  their  gorgeousness. 
On  the  other  side  of  Algiers  from  the  locality  of  this  fete,  on 
the  north  coast  near  St.- Eugene,  other  sacrificial  rites  take 
place  every  Wednesday  morning  at  sunrise,  and  are  popular 
with  certain  of  the  lower  classes  of  Arabs.  Lambs  and  fowls 
are  slaughtered,  and  the  natives  smear  themselves  with  their 
blood,  in  which  they  suppose  similar  efficacy  lies  to  that  as- 
cribed to  the  bullock's  blood  and  the  sacred  waters  of  Sidi- 
Abd-el-Rhaman  already  alluded  to.  When  the  bled  chicken 
flutters  into  the  sea  it  is  considered  a  good  omen. 

The  first  washing  of  a  child  is  the  occasion  of  rejoicing :  it 
takes  pjace  seven  days  after  birth.  The  usual  gathering  of 
musicians  and  guests  fills  the  court  in  which  the  baptism  takes 
place.  A  hai'k  or  other  piece  of  drapery  is  held  at  the  four 
corners  by  some  of  the  women  present  over  a  basin  or  fountain 
where  the  little  one  is  to  be  bathed.  After  a  good  scrubbing 
and  the  natural  consequence  of  the  same,  kicking  and  scream- 
ing, the  youngster  is  dressed  in  ample  pantaloons,  jacket,  shoes, 


96  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

and  a  cap  tied  on  his  head ;  his  hands  are  then  bandaged  up 
in  a  mush  of  henna,  which  looks  like  spinach  cooked.  This 
little  hand -organ  monkey  now  belongs  to  the  community,  and 
has  a  name.  He  is  regarded  as  being  old  enough  to  resist  the 
evil-eye,  which  might  have  done  him  harm  had  he  been  washed 
at  a  more  tender  age.  [In  Egypt  parents  are  not  particular 
about  having  their  progeny  washed  or  cared  for  during  the 
first  seven  years  of  their  existence,  on  account  of  their  fear  of 
the  evil -eye.] 

The  mother  can  witness  the  proceedings  from  her  bed,  or 
she  may  take  a  seat  in  the  court.  The  feast  is  not  neglected, 
and  visitors  are  expected  to  partake  largely  of  the  different  and 
abundant  dishes.  Only  women  and  children  are  present.  First 
comes  soup  made  up  of  mutton  gravy,  lentils,  onions,  etc.,  in 
which  each  person  dips  with  his  or  her  own  spoon,  retaining  it 
for  the  whole  repast.  Kouskous  is  of  course  the  substantial  dish, 
and  is  always  made  by  the  women ;  wheaten  dough  is  passed 
through  a  sieve,  and  the  pellets  are  rolled  by  hand  the  size  of 
small  shot.  When  prepared  for  a  wedding,  the  women  begin 
several  days  in  advance,  and  instead  of  making  the  pellets 
round,  they  are  rolled  with  much  care  into  a  long  shape,  the 
size  of  barley  grains.  Boiled  mutton,  or  sometimes  chicken 
with  hot  gravy,  is  poured  over  the  kouskous  when  cooked. 
A  large  deep  metal  pan  of  sour  milk  is  passed  by  each  guest 
after  she  has  taken  a  draught.  Salad,  lentils,  beans,  and  such 
dishes  follow,  accompanied  by  a  vessel  containing  orange-flower 
water  sweetened,  into  which  the  feaster  dips  a  greasy  fritter— 
the  combination  is  really  excellent — and,  to  finish,  for  one  can- 
not keep  on  forever,  notwithstanding  the  Arab  hospitality,  des- 
sert is  served.  I  have  tasted  at  various  festivities  exquisite  del- 
icacies unlike  anything  we  are  accustomed  to  eat — cakes  and 
candies  made  of  honey,  pea --nuts,  pine-cone  pods,  cocoanuts, 


THE   NEGRO   COMMUNITY.  97 

and  a  number  of  other  delicately  flavored  concoctions ;  but  my 
experience  of  some  years  ago  was,  I  fear,  exceptional,  owing  to 
the  fact  that  on  that  occasion,  after  a  long  excursion  in  the 
desert  beyond  Biskra,  we  came  to  a  miserable  village,  where  we 
were  most  hospitably  entertained  by  the  sheik,  or  governor,  of 
the  locality,  and  naturally  everything  offered  us  had  the  charm 
of  novelty,  besides  the  surprise  of  getting  anything  like  a  de- 
cent repast.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  mention  coffee,  as  it  is 
omnipresent  in  the  Arab  dwelling,  but  all  of  my  readers  may 
not  know  how  it  is  made.  The  bean,  after  being  burned,  is 
pounded,  not  ground,  in  a  mortar,  the  powder  is  mixed  in  a 
thick  paste  (a  good  quantity  of  ambergris  being  added),  a  small 
spoonful  of  which  is  put  into  the  little  coffee-pot  containing 
hot  water ;  sugar  is  put  in  at  the  same  time,  and  the  whole  is 
allowed  to  boil  up  three  different  times  before  serving.  This 
one  sees  at  any  cafe  in  the  town.  Some  of  us  (not  including 
the  writer)  cannot  accustom  ourselves  to  the  muddiness  of  the 
beverage,  others  prefer  it  to  clear  coffee.  When  well  made  all 
the  aroma  is  there,  and  the  dregs  settle  in  a  short  time.  One 
point  in  its  favor  is  that  it  is  served  boiling  hot,  whereas  in  the 
majority  of  French  cafes  it  is  only  warm. 

The  invasion  of  locusts  is  the  terror  of  the  colonist  and  of 
the  native  cultivator,  but  the  inhabitants  of  the  desert  do  not 
regard  them  with  the  same  dread.  In  Algeria  (as  well  as  in 
Arabia,  according  to  Palgrave)  the  Arabs  kill  and  collect  as 
many  of  them  as  possible  for  food.  They  eat  them  dried  and 
salted,  or  else  fried. 

This  plague  of  locusts — for  in  the  first  years  of  the  French 
conquest  it  could  well  be  considered  as  such — takes  place  still, 
but  by  numerous  inventions  the  fearful  consequences  have  been 
very  much  diminished.  The  invasion  takes  place  every  few 
years  at  the  end  of  the  hot  months,  of  which  September  is  the 


98 


WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 


most  unbearable,  as  little  or  no  rain  falls  after  June  until  Octo- 
ber, and  the  parching  sirocco,  disagreeable  enough  from  its  irri- 
tating effect  in  winter,  is  very  trying  in  -summer.  According 
to  Sir  L.  Playfair,  "First,  dark  clouds  of  adult  insects,  which 
darken  the  sun,  and  appear  like  a  thick  fall  of  snow,  come 
from  the  direction  of  the  desert.  These  soon  commence  to  lay 


ON    THE    TERRACES. 


their  eggs  in  any  light  sandy  soil  they  can  find,  and  in  thirty  or 
thirty-five  days  afterwards  the  young  insects,  or  criquets,  com- 
mence to  appear.  These  are  far  more  destructive  than  the 
parents,  and  under  their  attacks  vegetation  of  every  kind  disap- 
pears as  by  magic.  They  usually  appear  towards  the  close  of 
the  hot  season,  and  the  first  rain  or  cold  of  autumn  causes  them 
all  to  disappear." 


THE  NEGRO   COMMUNITY.  99 

There  was  an  invasion  in  1883  or  1884,  when  something 
like  four  thousand  cubic  feet  of  the  eggs  alone  were  destroyed. 
The  locusts  and  criquets  were  made  to  move  in  the  direction  of 
long  ditches  dug  for  the  purpose,  and  when  millions  had  tum- 
bled in,  burying  each  other,  they  shared  the  same  grave,  with  a 
good  load  of  earth  to  keep  them  down. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

TO    LA   TRAPPE. 

THE  famous  Catholic  religious  order  of  monks  called 
Trappists  are  established  about  ten  miles  from  Algiers, 
near  the  village  of  Staouelli.  The  monastery  is  known 
as  La  Trappe  de  Staouelli.  Candidates  are-  allowed  to  enter 
the  monastery  at  the  age  of  sixteen  or  eighteen,  and  are  at 
liberty  to  leave  within  three  years  if  they  find  that  they  can- 
not abide  by  the  rules  and  conditions  stipulated ;  one  of  which 
is  that  they  must  never  speak.  (My  fair  readers  will  not,  I 
hope,  think  that  I  am  the  only  authority  for  the  assertion 
that  a  similar  institution  exists  where  the  inmates  are  all 
women.) 

La  Trappe  is  visited  on  Sunday  and  fete  days  by  a  great 
many  excursionists,  who  ride  or  walk,  and  put  up  with  a  great 
deal  of  inconvenience  (especially  the  pedestrians,  who  are  all 
one  color  when  they  arrive  on  a  hot  dusty  day)  for  the  princi- 
pal satisfaction  of  getting  a  very  good  luncheon  at  noon  for  the 
modest  sum  of  one  franc ;  and  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  some  of 
the  sly  and  impecunious  visitors  get  their  feast  for  nothing. 

All  visitors  are  looked  upon,  according  to  the  traditional 
method,  as  travellers,  and  the  hospitable  monks  furnish  food  to 
the  wayfarer  gratuitously,  but  in  all  monasteries  there  is  a  box 
to  which  the  guests  contribute  what  they  please.  At  La 
Trappe  one  franc  is  customary ;  and  it  is  probable,  as  above 


TO   LA  TRAPPE.  IOI 

stated,  that  some  of  the  near-sighted  recipients  of  hospitality 
are  unable  to  find  the  box. 

The  day  that  we  drove  up  in  a  small  party  to  the  door  of 
the  monastery,  we  found  that  not  less  than  sixty  famished  trav- 
ellers like  ourselves  were  washing  down  the  dust  from  their  irri- 
tated throats,  and  we  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  wait,  as  we  had 
arrived  a  little  late  for  the  regular  luncheon -hour.  A  most 
courteous  old  monk  of  seventy  summers,  as  the  poets  put  it, 
received  us  and  s^ave  us  information  concerning  the  institution. 

O  O 

As  he  did  the  talking  for  the  entire  fraternity,  numbering  about 
one  hundred,  the  reader  may  understand  that  his  tongue  did 
good  service  and  hadn't  time  to  grow  rusty.  When  he  was 
young,  and  before  he  became  spokesman,  he  did  not  find  it  very 
difficult  to  give  up  conversation,  but  to  one  rule  he  could  never, 
even  to  this  day,  accustom  himself  —  that  was,  rising  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning ;  it  was  barbarous.  Retiring  with  the 
chickens,  at  seven  in  the  evening,  the  monks  had  a  fair  period 
of  repose,  but  the  hours  for  sleep  were  badly  chosen  for  com- 
fort. Living,  however,  as  they  did  designedly,  in  a  way  con- 
trary to  everything  like  ease  and  luxury,  they  were  obliged  to 
submit  to  the  regulation. 

When  we  had  finished  our  breakfast,  which  consisted  of 
three  dishes  of  vegetables,  bread,  cheese,  fruit,  and  excellent 
wine,  both  white  and  red,  we  left  in  the  vestibule  the  ladies  of 
our  party,  who  were  not  permitted  to  accompany  us,  while  we 
followed  the  same  old  man  of  seventy  summers  into  the  monas- 
tery. We  were  particularly  requested  not  to  speak.  Our  guide 
told  us  before  entering  the  different  halls  for  what  purpose  they 
were  used.  The  chapel  was  large  and  cool,  and  of  course  very 
plain.  Each  dumb  worshipper  had  his  stall.  On  the  walls 
were  numerous  inscriptions  reminding  one  of  the  miseries  of 
this  life,  among  them  this  inspiriting  device :  "  S'il  est  triste  de 


102  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

vivre  a  la  Trappe,  qu'il  est  doux  d'y  mourir;"  and  it  may  be 
remarked  that,  compared  to  the  lugubrious  seventy  of  the  in- 
terior, the  sight  of  the  cemetery  a  short  distance  off  in  the 
grounds  filled  one's  soul  with  mirth.  And  again :  "  II  vaut  bien 
la  peine  de  vivre  sans  plaisir  pour  avoir  le  plaisir  de  mourir 
sans  peine" — an  epigrammatic  phrase  which  is  untranslata- 
ble. Some  of  the  long  halls  were  used  for  morning  prayers 
and  evening  prayers  and  two -o'clock -in- the -morning  prayers. 
The  plain  benches  and  floor  were  highly  polished  by  constant 
devotion. 

The  dining-hall  was  especially  funereal ;  the  long  narrow 
tables  and  benches  were  painted  black ;  a  metal  plate,  a  salt- 
cellar, wooden  spoon  and  fork,  napkin  in  ring,  were  laid  for  use 
of  the  frere  Raphael,  or  pere  Dominique,  or  novice  Jeremie, 
whose  name  was  painted  in  conspicuous  letters  on  a  board 
which  lay  by  each  set  of  utensils.  Prayers  and  exhortations  are 
made  during  dinner,  and  benedictions  pronounced  from  a  cen- 
tral pulpit  by  one  of  the  brotherhood. 

In  one  of  the  arid  courts  not  yet  converted  into  a  garden 
or  shady  walk,  convicts  from  Algiers  were  being  drilled  in  the 
hot  sun  until  they  seemed  thoroughly  sick  of  it,  then  they 
were  marched  into  chapel.  At  other  times  they  are  made  to 
work  in  the  fields  under  overseers,  who  prevent  them  from 
speaking  and  from  escaping.  A  watch  is  likewise  kept  on 
the  monks  while  at  work  in  the  vineyards  for  the  better  keep- 
ing of  the  rule.  By  their  praiseworthy  industry  they  have 
converted  a  desert — the  large  tract  of  land  which  belongs  to 
them — into  fertile  and  productive  soil,  and  they  cultivate  fruit, 
grain,  grapes,  and  vegetables.  Their  wines  are  delicious,  espe- 
cially the  white,  but  very  alcoholic.  The  cellars  extend  under 
a  greater  part  of  the  large  buildings  of  masonry,  and  contain 
hundreds  of  hogsheads  and  barrels,  and  the  largest  of  the 


TO   LA  TRAPPE.  103 

heads  contain  thousands  of  gallons  of  wine  each.  In  size  they 
measure  about  twelve  feet  in  diameter  and  in  depth. 

In  order  to  guard  against  the  introduction  of  phyloxera  into 
the  vineyards,  the  Custom-house  is  very  severe  with  passengers 
who  attempt  to  land  with  any  fruit.  One  frequently  sees  stran- 
gers devouring  a  whole  basketful  of  their  precious  apples  and 
pears,  rather  than  allow  them  to  be  crushed  under  the  ruthless 
heel  of  an  officer. 

Everything  is  produced  at  La  Trappe ;  cattle  and  horses, 
poultry  and  rabbits,  raised.  In  the  distillery  several  wagon- 
loads  of  geranium  leaves  had  been  emptied,  but  as  it  was 
Sunday  the  fires  were  not  burning,  and  the  immense  caldrons 
were  cold.  A  thick  perfume -essence  is  made  from  the  gera- 
nium leaves,  and  sold  for  sixty  francs  the  quart  bottle. 

We  must  not  quit  the  premises  without  taking  a  look  into 
the  dormitory.  After  passing  through  the  library  and  exam- 
ining a  few  books,  most  of  which,  or  perhaps  all,  related  to 
religious  topics,  we  came  to  a  long  hall  (always  a  "  long  hall "), 
where  each  cot-bed  occupied  a  stall  seven  feet  by  four,  open 
at  the  top,  for  the  partition  only  rose  to  a  height  of  seven 
feet,  and  the  hall  was  high  and  airy.  At  the  entrance  of  each 
chamber  hung  a  scant  curtain,  which  gave  the  appearance  of 
sleeping  apartments  of  bathing-houses  on  a  beach  to  the  whole 
row.  A  hard  pillow,  one  gray  blanket,  a  crucifix,  and  a  small 
hand- broom  were  the  monks'  only  furniture.  As  to  bowl  and 
pitcher,  I  believe  I  am  right  in  asserting  their  absence. 

Continuing  our  drive  from  La  Trappe,  we  returned  by  the 
sea,  passing  through  several  villages.  A  fete  was  in  full  swing 
at  Pointe  Pescade  for  the  benefit  of  French  shopkeepers  and 
lower  classes,  and  as  the  merry-go-rounds  and  "Aunt  Sallies" 
were  of  European  invention,  we  only  stopped  long  enough  for 
refreshments.  Everything  was  so  out  of  keeping  with  'the 


104  WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 

customs  of  the  country  and  the  surroundings,  that  it  jarred 
on  the  senses.  The  Arabs  seldom  appreciate  clownish  actions, 
and  the  few  present  looked  on  gravely  at  the  dancing  and 
gestures  of  the  half-intoxicated  participators.  We  recognized 
many  of  the  guests  who  had  preceded  us  at  the  Trappe,  and 
who  tried  to  make  themselves  believe  that  they  were  having 
a  glorious  day  of  it  by  walking  twenty-five  miles,  returning  to 
Algiers  by  the  longer  route,  besides  stopping  to  dance  in  the 
middle  of  the  road,  in  dust  ankle  deep. 

Steamers,  black  with  people  and  bedecked  with  flags,  took 
people  to  and  from  the  fete. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

IN    THE    BATHS. 

NO  traveller  in  the  East  can  consider  his  sojourn  com- 
plete without  the  experience,  at  least,  if  not  luxury,  of 
a  Turkish  or  Moorish  bath.  If  you  go,  you  go  to 
perspire,  and  to  see  everybody  and  everything  around  you  per- 
spire. After  undressing,  and  depositing  your  watch  and  valu- 
ables with  the  proprietor,  go  to  the  hot  room  and  stretch  your- 
self upon  a  raised  platform  in  the  centre' of  the  tepidarium— 
built  of  large  slabs  of  marble  over  an  oven  in  which  a  raging 
fire  is  eager  to  roast  you.  Think  of  the  dolmens  of  old 
upon  whose  back  the  Druids  offered  their  sacrifices,  and  im- 
agine yourself  any  animal  you  please.  When  you  are  roasted 
on  one  side,  turn  over  and  try  another  corner  of  your  altar 
to  find  a  cool  spot;  then  lie  on  the  stone  floor  and  let  your 
grinning  attendant  crack  your  bones,  pull  your  joints,  and 
twist  your  neck,  and  knead  you  with  his  hands,  and  walk  over 
you  with  his  knees ;  then  let  him  roll  off  your  old  skin^  and 
with  evident  pride  lay  before  you  long  strings  of  your  worth- 
less hide,  a  dozen  of  them  in  a  row;  then  you  begin  to  real- 
ize that  you  have  had  one  bath  in  your  lifetime  that  has  been 
of  some  genuine  use  to  your  human  existence.  Pumice-stone 
for  the  soles  of  your  feet,  and  strong  soap  and  wisps  of  hemp, 
or  similar  fibre,  help  to  take  off  your  second  skin,  but  you 
keep  on  your  third  to  go  home  with  by  fixing  it  with  a 


io6 


WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 


bucket  or  two  of  cold  water.  Then,  to  keep  what  remains  of 
you  together,  and  to  prevent  your  third  skin  from  trying  to 
get  away,  your  attendant  wraps  you  tightly  in  towels  as  big 
as  sheets,  and  your  head  in  a  turban,  and  perches  you  on 
high  wooden  sandals  to  keep  your  feet  out  of  the  water,  for 
the  pavement  is  also  perspiring  freely;  small  rivers  flow  in 

every  direction.  In 
this  becoming  garb, 
like  a  man  buried  by 
mistake  in  the  cat- 
acombs, you  come 
forth  and  lie  down 
with  the  oth'er  mis- 
taken corpses,  and 
help  them  drink  tea 
and  perspire  once 
more,  and  throw 
another  mantle  of 
smoke  about  you 
with  a  long  pipe. 
Then  you  are  fit 
for  nothing;  lie  still, 
and  let  the  world 
wag  as  it  will.  .  .  . 
The  hours  set  apart 
for  men  at  the  baths 

are  from  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  until  noon,  thus  furnish- 
ing them  with  good  sleeping  quarters  for  the  night.  On  my 
first  visit  to  Algiers  with  'a  friend,  in  1872  all  the  hotels  hap- 
pened to  be  crowded,  and  as  we  arrived  at  eleven  o'clock  we 
could  not  well  remain  until  morning  under  the  stars;  we  there- 
fore followed  an  acquaintance  accustomed  to  the  manners  of 


INTERIOR    OF    MOORISH    BATH. 


IN   THE   BATHS. 


107 


the  country,  and  in  the  same 
predicament,  to  a  bath ;  but 
on  opening  the  door  of  the 
large  room,  where  perhaps 
fifty  Arabs  were  snoring  on 
their  mattresses  and  on  mat- 
ting, our  noses  were  greeted 
with  such  an  unwelcome 
odor  of  animal  life  under 
high  pressure  that  we  de- 
cided at  once  to  try  our 
luck  elsewhere,  and  finally 
found  apartments  in  the 
town. 

The  baths  are  the  great 
places  of  rendezvous  for  the 
Arab  women,  who  spend  an 
afternoon  there  frequently 
(their  hours  being  from 
noon  till  seven),  and  they 
certainly  deserve  this  much 
of  social  intercourse.  They 
are  seen  with  their  chil- 
dren in  the  streets  going  to 
the  bath,  accompanied  by  a 
gorgeous  negress  carrying 
a  bronze  vessel  filled  with 
necessary  articles,  and  other 
baskets  and  bundles,  con- 
taining a  complete  change  of  linen ;  also  several  strings  of 
orange-blossoms.  Orange-flower  water  is  not  to  be  forgotten, 
for  it  enters  extensively  into  their  luxuries  as  a  drink  with 


NEGRESS  ATTENDANT  GOING  TO  THE  BATH. 


IOS  WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 

their  meals  and  as  a  perfume.  For  the  latter  purpose  a  bottle 
of  brass,  silver,  or  gold,  with  long  neck  and  a  pepper-box 
termination,  is  used,  with  which  they  sprinkle  guests  at  home 
and  friends  at  the  bath,  as  well  as  themselves.  The  baths, 
again,  "  take  in  washing,"  especially  of  heavy  woollen  burnooses, 
hai'ks,  blankets,  etc.,  which  the  attendants  and  the  moutcho  (a 
young  boy- servant,  whose  name  is  evidently  of  Spanish  origin) 
wash  with  their  feet  and  plenty  of  soap  and  water  on  the 
marble  pavement  in  -the  hot  room.  These  articles  are  hung, 
with  the  bath  towels  and  other  linen,  to  dry  on  the  terraces. 
To  make  a  study  under  the  drippings  of  such  an  entire  laun- 
dry may  be  looked  upon  as  a  feat,  aside  from  the  fact  that 
the  moutcho  seemed  afraid  to  leave  me  within  reach  of  such 
valuable  wet  linen.  When  the  yellow  burnooses  •  are  to  be 
bleached,  they  are  arranged,  like  tents,  over  the  smoke  of  sul- 
phur fumigations.  This  operation  is  equal  to  a  thousand 
matches  burning  unwelcome  incense  under  the  artist's  nose. 
The  bath  attendants  are  apparently  wonderfully  constituted  to 
avoid  rheumatism  and  pneumonia ;  they  go  in  and  out  of  the 
heated  room  for  hours  together  with  only  a  towel  round  their 
loins,  but  they  do  catch  cold  all  the  same. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

A    TRIP    TO    TLEM£EN. 

FROM  Algiers  to  Oran  is  a  good  day's  journey  by  rail- 
way, hot  and  tedious.     In  the  hottest  months  of  summer 
the  trains  run  at  night ;  for  the  terrible  Vallee  du  Chelif, 
through  which  the  route  lies  for  a  great  part  of  the  distance, 
is    almost   unbearable   during    the   day.     Covered   with  waving 
wheat,  grass,  and  flowers  in  spring,  it  becomes  a  barren  and 
parched  waste  in  summer.     The   sun,  monarch  of  all  he  sur- 
veys, extinguishes    here    all   life,   animal    and  vegetable.      The 
heat  is  as  intense  (122°  in   the  shade)  as   it  is   on   the  border 
of  the  Sahara,  a  hundred  miles  farther  south. 

The  Arabs  make  use  of  the  train  ;  they  manage,  after 
much  time  and  deliberation,  to  buy  a  ticket,  and  are  shown 
into  the  compartment,  generally  third  class,  which  they  are  to 
occupy.  They  are  not  accustomed  to  chairs ;  so  that  when 
there  is  room  they  crouch  on  the  benches,  slip  off  their 
shoes,  and  hold  their  toes — a  favorite  way  among  them  of 
deriving  comfort.  Fatigued,  solemn,  and  sunburnt  faces,  with 
eyebrows  which  have  assumed  a  perpetual  scowl  from  the 
habit  of  shading  their  bloodshot  eyes,  fill  the  windows,  while 
crowds  of  others  hovering  about  the  stations  look  wistfully  at 
you  from  under  not  only  the  folds  of  a  turban  but  immense 
straw  hats,  with  twelve  inches  of  brim  and  as  much  of  crown, 
ornamented  in  various  designs  with  bands  and  lozenges  of 


HO  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

leather,  cloth,  and  .tassels  of  different  colors.  Miserable  inhab- 
itants of  the  neighboring  dollars  (villages  of  tents),  clothed  in  the 
only  burnoose  which  they  perhaps  have  ever  possessed  since  ar- 
riving at  the  age  of  manhood — a  garment  which  is  torn,  patched, 
darned  until  its  original  stuff  has  disappeared  —  timidly  offer 
for  sale  dates,  oranges,  medlars,  ground-peas,  figs,  the  meagre 
production  of  their  own  little  corner  of  ground.  Notwith- 
standing their  dirt  and  rags,  are  they  not  always  more  pict- 
uresque and  interesting  than  the  corresponding  loafers  among 
us,  out  at  elbows  and  knees,  to  say  nothing  of  their  proclivity 
for  drink,  which  is  almost  unheard  of  among  the  Moham- 
medans ? 

As  long  as  the  burnoose  hangs  together  it  is  as  classical 
in  its  long  folds  as  the  toga.  No  matter  how  much  soiled  or 
worn,  there  is  always  an  infinite  variety  in  its  drapery.  Com- 
pare with  this  beautiful  old  age  the  early  and  fatal  decrepitude 
of  a  pair  of  modern  pantaloons,  for  instance !  And  how  is  it 
that  we  have  lost  the  secret  of  dignity  in  dress  and  learned 
that  of  shabbiness  ? 

The  European  sight -seer  and  bombastic  commercial  trav- 
eller, the  old  acquaintance  and  familiars  of  all  the  hotel -keep- 
ers of  the  towns  and  of  the  pretty  waitresses  in  the  railway  res- 
taurants, enjoy  excellent  meals  at  stopping -places  on  the  way, 
even  in  localities  of  most  dismal  appearance,  in  whose  soil  one 
can  imagine  nothing  to  flourish  except  scorpions  and  lizards. 
Prominent  also,  of  course,  are  the  tolerably  intelligent  and  the 
common  colonist,  the  latter  almost  an  Arab  as  regards  intellect 
and  brutality.  He  kicks  and  cuffs  the  cochon  d' indigene,  as  he 
invariably  calls  him,  cheats  him,  and  if  the  native  responds  in 
the  same  manner  to  the  colonist's  abuses  he  must  suffer  in  con- 
sequence, as  if  he  was  the  only  offender.  The  ingenious  colo- 
nist invents,  for  instance,  a  barrel  with  a  double  bottom  of  sev- 


A   TRIP   TO    TLEM^EN.  Ill 

eral  inches,  which  he  uses  to  his  advantage  in  buying  olive- oil — 
the  oil  slowly  disappearing  makes  room  for  several  more  quarts 
than  its  legitimate  capacity.  The  native,  when  he  discovers 
his  foreign  brother's  tricks,  is  not  too  much  of  a  fool  to  invent 
tricks  of  his  own  ;  and,  such  grosser  tricks  apart,  the  foreign 
house-keeper,  in  dealing  with  the  town  Arabs,  is  much  puzzled 
in  trying  to  ascertain  the  real  cost  of  various  articles  of  food  for 
her  table.  If  her  servants  are  foreigners  who  accompany  her  to 
Algiers,  they  are  made  to  pay  foreigners'  prices ;  if  she  would 
economize  by  hiring  Algerine  servants,  they  may  obtain  the 
articles  at  Arab  prices,  but  they  in  their  turn  pocket  the  dif- 
ference, so  that  the  mistress  still  pays  the  prices  in  accordance 
with  her  nationality. 

The  Vallee  du  Chelif  is  watered  by  a  system  of  barrage ; 
a  dike  built  of  stone,  over  sixteen  hundred  feet  long,  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  feet  high  and  as  many  feet  broad,  keeps  in 
check  something  like  four  hundred  million  cubic  feet  of  water 
supplied  by  the  rivers.  When  the  wall  gave  way  to  the  press- 
ure of  the  water  some  years  ago,  an  immense  tract  of  country 
was  devastated,  villages  were  washed  away,  and  hundreds  of 
their  inhabitants  drowned. 

The  traveller  scarcely  ever  loses  sight  of  the  tomb  of  a  mar- 
about ;  if  one  of  these  is  not  seen  shining  like  a  great  roc's 
egg  against  the  yellow  hill -side  or  the  distant  blue  mountains, 
another  can  be  discovered  on  some  lonely  peak  in  the  far  dis- 
tance, cut  out  against  the  sky.  The  dome  is  generally  like  the 
pointed  end  of  an  egg,  surrounded  by  four  little  turrets,  one  at 
each  corner  of  the  square  structure.  The  marabout  is  buried 
in  the  vicinity  of  his  abode,  and  his  tomb  is  kept  in  order  by 
subscriptions  and  donations  from  pilgrims.  On  the  road-siHe 
the  traveller  often  sees  thorny  bushes  one  mass  of  bits  of  rags 
of  all  colors  ;  these  are  pieces  of  clothing  of  passing  Arabs, 


112  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

which  they  tear  off  and  leave  in  this  manner,  as  a  token  of 
their  devotion  to  the  memory  of  the  marabout  "near  whose  sa- 
cred precincts  they  are  travelling.  At  first  sight  these  bushes 
seem  to  have  caught  hold  of  a  migrating  ragman's  stock  in 
trade. 

In  parts  the  hills  are  covered  with  dwarf  palms  from  two 
to  four  feet  high.  An  occasional  sturdy  and  thickly  leaved 
oak,  isolated  from  all  other  verdure,  and  perhaps  miles  away 
from  other  frees,  becomes  the  magnet  for  a  family  of  nomads, 
who  pitch  their  dark-brown  camels'-hair  tents  near  it — seldom 
round  it;  why,  I  do  not  know  —  and  round  their  little  douar 
they  make  an  impenetrable  hedge  of  thorny  bushes  of  an  ashy 
gray,  tightly  packed  together.  The  only,  refuge  for  the  horses, 
donkeys,  sheep,  and  goats  of  the  douar  from  the  torrid  sun  is 
furnished  by  the  oak.  Little  filmy  clouds  of  dust  rapidly  suc- 
ceeding each  other  attract  your  attention.  A  donkey  trips 
along,  its  hind -legs  weak  and  knocking  together  from  having 
been  worked  when  too  young;  upon  it  sits  a  woman  with  a 
child  either  in  her  lap  or  clutching  on  behind,  with  dusty  little 
legs  spread  over  bags  and  baskets.  The  tawny  father  walks 
near  or  leads  the  way,  carrying  a  long  gun  across  his  shoul- 
ders, and  rudely  fashioned  knives  in  leather  scabbards  dangle 
within  easy  reach  at  his  girdle.  Perhaps  less  classical,  less 
clean,  and  certainly  less  conventional  than  a  picture,  yet  it  is  a 
presentiment  of  the  "  Flight  into  Egypt." 

From  Oran,  less  interesting  in  every  respect  than  Algiers 
— at  any  rate,  to  the  artist  and  general  public — we  go  on  by. 
train,  after  a  night's  rest,  to  Ain-Temouchent.  This  terminus 
is  without  interest.  One  principal  street  with  low  modern  col- 
onists' houses  and  shops  is,  however,  an  important  point  on 
the  road  to  Tiemsen.  The  diligence,  incrusted  with  dust,  'is 
having  a  third  story  added  to  it  in  the  shape  of  trunks,  boxes, 


A   TRIP    TO   TLEMgEN.  113 

hampers,  a  bundle  of  swords,  boots,  blankets,  belonging  to  two 
young  soldiers"  returning  from  a  short  furlough.  They  have 
red  noses  and  cheeks  in  the  process  of  peeling,  and  sunburnt 
foreheads  bearing  a  sort  of  high-water  mark  against  the  white 


ON   THE   ROOF    OF    SIDI-ABD-EL-RHAMAX,  ALGIERS. 

skin  protected  from  the  sun  by  the  cap.  Behind  the  driver's 
seat  is  the  banquette — room  for  four,  and  perhaps  the  most 
agreeable  places;  behind  this  bench,  and  under  the  tarpaulin 
'with  which  the  third  story  is  covered,  a  few  Arabs  pack  in ; 


114  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

the  heat  is  stifling,  but  they  have  patience,  or  perhaps  console 
themselves,  as  they  do  in  every  other  circumstance,  by  saying 
"it  is  written"  that  they  shall  suffer  in  this  way.  The  interieur, 
seating  eight  or  ten  persons,  is  perhaps  worse ;  the  dust  curls  in 
eddies,  and  is  carried  along  in  the  inside,  where  no  current  of 
air  disturbs  it.  I  had  retained  seat  number  two,  unfortunately 
in  the  middle  of  the  coupe,  which  is  the  separate  compart- 
ment looking  forward,  and  not  only  under  the  driver's  seat, 
which  projects  and  hides  the  view  of  the  sky  before  us,  but 
behind  baskets  of  eggs,  bundles  of  artichokes,  and  bags  of  hay 
and-  oats,  which  he  collects  at  the  different  villages,  and  stuffs 
under  his  seat  until  delivered  at  other  stations  on  our  route. 

Seven  well-kept  bays  were  harnessed  and  put  in  the  traces 
while  we  finished  our  coffee  and  cigarette  after  a  fair  break- 
fast, and  we  started  off  at  a  brisk  pace,  on  the  minute  and  to 
the  sound  of  a  cracking  whip.  My  two  travelling  companions 
proved  to  be  two  well-to-do  inhabitants  of  Tleir^en ;  rather  un- 
communicative at  first,  they  became  more  congenial,  but  as 
they  knew  very  little  French  our  conversation  was  limited. 
The  medium  of  an  introduction  was  soon  found  in  a  basket 
of  iiefles  du  Japon — bright  yellow,  and  acid  enough  to  be  very 
refreshing — which  I  had  bought  at  Ain-Temouchent,  in  antici- 
pation of  a  hot  and  dusty  ride  of  eight  hours. 

With  a  little  imagination  I  could  see  in  the  companion  on 
my  left  a  perfect  type  of  a  prince  of  the  house  of  Tlerr^en, 
of  a  few  centuries  back,  returning  from  Granada  by  Oran  to 
his  palace  twenty-five  hundred  feet  above  the  sea.  Clean-cut 
features,  deep-set  black  eyes,  like  beads,  and  the  nose  slightly 
aquiline;  one  could  almost  see  the  impress  of  his  father's 
thumb  and  fingers  where  the  parental  squeeze  had  given  the 
nose  its  downward  turn  ;  for  an  Arab,  aside  from  the  charac- 
teristics of  his  race,  can  never  possess,  owing  to  this  process 


A   TRIP   TO   TLEM^EX.  115 

when  he  enters  the  world,  a  turn-up  nose.  The  poor  little 
girls,  however,  seem  sometimes  to  have  escaped  this  attention 
on  the  part  of  the  parents,  for  the  advent  of  a  girl  is  con- 
sidered a  misfortune  in  a  family,  and  everything  that  goes 
wrong  is  attributed  to  the  bad  star  which  protects  her. 

The  Prince  wore  his  black  mustache  cut  off  square  above 
the  lip,  and  his  beard  neatly  shaven  about  the  throat,  leaving 
a  narrow  strip  from  ear  to  ear,  coming  to  a  point  at  the  chin. 
At  our  first  stopping- place  for  relaying  he  insisted  upon  my 
drinking  with  him.  He  adhered  to  his  religion  by  partaking 
of  nothing  stronger  than  orgeat.  We  never  lost  sight  of  the 
distant  mountain  where  Tlen^en  lies,  and  I  longed  to  see 
something  more  interesting  than  the  rolling  country  covered 
with  dwarf  palms  and  rocks,  presenting  at  every  turn  a  re- 
markable similarity  which  became  monotonous.  We  passed 
shepherds  driving  several  hundred  sheep  together,  and  we 
went  through  them  like  a  boat  o^oinor  through  water.  An 

o  o         o  o 

occasional  douar  of  a  few  miserable  tents  could  be  seen  in 
the  neighborhood  of  a  brook,  where  the  women  went  stealth- 
ily to  get  water,  half  hiding  their  faces  and  ready  to  run  when 
they  found  themselves  too  near  the  diligence.  Half  a  dozen 
lank  camels  browsing  in  the  little  valleys  raised  their  long 
necks  to  gaze  mournfully  at  our  compact  caravan,  moving 
slowly  up  the  hill  in  a  cloud  of  dust,  the  horses'  bells  jingling 
lazily,  while  the  travellers  were  dozing,  weary,  hot,  and  dusty. 
Our  fourth  and  last  relay  was  made  at  the  foot  of  the  mount- 
ain, and  within  sight  of  our  destination,  which  we  reached  at 
a  furious  gallop,  on  as  good  a  road  as  that  of  the  Champs 
Elysees. 

While  we  were  still  without  the  fortifications,  portals,  and 
walls  of  the  ancient  capital,  three  handsome  and  well-dressed 
youths,  eight,  twelve,  and  sixteen  years  of  age,  came  dancing 


Il6  WINTERS   IN    ALGERIA. 

down  the  road,  in  zigzags  across  it,  until  they  met  the  dili- 
gence. Each  one  waved  in  his  hand  a  flower — white  lily 
or  rose  —  which  they  threw  most  gracefully  through  the  win- 
dow of  our  coupe.  The  Prince  was  their  uncle,  and  they  had 
come  to  welcome  his  return  in  this  charming  manner.  The 
eldest  boy,  with  sparkling  eyes  and  smooth  oval  face,  held 
the  Prince's  hand,  and  ran  along  with  us,  asking  all  sorts  of 
questions  after  having  gone  through  the  usual  greetings,  which 
in  themselves  form  considerable  conversation,  for  the  custom 
is  to  shake  hands  continually,  raising  and  lowering  them,  while 
inquiring  about  the  health  of  all  the  members  of  the  family — 
that  Allah  may  bless  them,  that  all  their  undertakings  may 
thrive,  that  their  investments  may  prove  -profitable,  etc. 

Like  the  arrival  of  the  diligence  in  all  countries,  the  arri- 
val of  our  monumental  vehicle  was  an  event  in  the  day,  and 
created  the  usual  sensation;  the  drivers  seem  always  to  save 
their  horses  enough  to  make  a  kind  of  triumphal  entry  each 
trip.  We  passed  through  an  avenue  of  elms(?)  of  very  great 
height,  their  branches  meeting,  like  the  arches  of  the  Seville 
Cathedral,  above  us,  and  towering  over  the  immense  and  mass- 
ive walls  of  the  Mechouar,  old  citadel  and  stronghold  of  the 
French  garrison  of  to-day. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

AT   TLEMgEN. 

SAOUARR — Saouarr!"  shouted  a  mischievous -looking 
brown-skinned  boy  to  his  companions  as  he  took  pos- 
session of  hand-bag  and  overcoat  while  I  kicked  the 
kinks  out  of  my  legs.  He  divined  my  profession  at  first  sight, 
and  was  delighted  when  I  confirmed  his  guesses,  for  he  fore- 
saw remunerative  occupation  for  several  days  in  carrying 
paint-box  and  canvas,  besides  sharing  my  luncheon  in  far-away 
excursions;  but  how  long  his  whim  would  allow  him  to  take 
advantage  of  a  fresh  opportunity  was  a  difficult  question  to 
answer.  As  in  Algiers,  the  devotion  of  such  a  useful  assistant 
can  never  be  counted  on  for  twenty-four  hours.  My  disap- 
pointments had  been  numerous  and  irritating,  and  I  thought 
that  now,  having  changed  locality,  air,  and  even  race,  I  might 
be  more  fortunate.  Race  I  say,  for  the  ethnologist  tells  us  that 
here,  near  the  frontier  of  Morocco,  one  finds  more  of  the  Ber- 
bers, inhabitants  of  Algeria  previous  to  the  Arabs  and  the 
Turk,  and  that  especially  on  the  coast  beyond  Oran  the  type  of 
the  Berber  is  more  accentuated.  Alas !  he  possesses  enough 
of  what  is  commonly  called  Arab  blood,  without  the  question  of 
the  mixture  of  the  Berber,  Turk,  or  Moor,  to  make  him  thor- 
oughly unreliable.  A  French  writer  says,  "  He  who  says  Arab 
says  thief,  without  exception."  The  Mohammed  who  told  me 
the  legends  already  related  gave  me  his  opinion  of  a  lie, 


nS 


WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 


DOOR    AT   TLEMQEN. 


shared,  of  course,  by  his  brethren. 
The  tales  and  legends  the  Arabs 
tell  are  full  of  rounded  phrases  and 
metaphors,  and  this  was  his  defi- 
nition of  a  lie :  "  A  zephyr  wafted 
from  the  lips  is  diffused  and  lost 
in  the  air;  what  is  there  tangible 
about  a  lie  or  any  word  uttered  ?" 

Well,  Mohammed,  let  us 
suppose  that  you  had  wafted 
several  zephyrs  of  this  nature 
in  any  business  transaction, 
and  that  you  should  reap  as 
a  reward  a  fine  black  eye  or 
a  broken  head,  would  you  not 

think  that  the  reflex  action  of  that  zephyr  had  accumulated 
considerable  tangibility  and  force  somewhere  in  the  surround- 
ing atmosphere  ? 

Tlem9en  stands  on  the  northern  slope  of  the  mountain  Leila 
Setta,  thirty  miles  from  the  sea ;  through  a  gap  in  the  distant 
hills  towards  Oran  the  Mediterranean  is  visible.  The  site  of 
the  town  is  most  beautiful  against  the  barren  rocks  at  the  back. 
Above  the  plateau,  where  the  town  is  built,  below  it,  and  for 
miles  around  are  groves  of  dense  olive  and  fig  trees,  under 
which  in  the  red  earth  wheat  and  flowers  grow  in  fields  well 
watered  and  cultivated.  Several  miles  east  of  the  town  flows 
a  river,  which  falls  in  cascades  from  a  great  height  between 
walls  of  massive  rock.  A  canal  eight  or  nine  miles  in  length, 
and  about  three  feet  broad  and  deep,  is  furnished  unceasingly 
with  water  from  this  river.  A  hole  only  an  inch  or  two  in  di- 
ameter allows  the  water  to  escape  from  the  canal  every  few 


AT  TLEMQEN.  119 

yards,  thus  forming  a  system  of  continuous  irrigation.  All 
above  the  straight  line  of  the  canal  is  bare  rock,  with  only  a 
few  patches  of  short  and  scant  grass  here  and  there;  all  below 
the  canal  is  vegetation  and  life.  What  cities  must  Tlem9en 
and  Mansoorah  have  been  in  their  glory!  An  inexpressible  feel- 
ing of  sadness  comes  over  one  when  contemplating  the  ruins 
which  once  were  hundreds  of  mosques  and  palaces,  besides 
smaller  exquisite  houses,  with  tiles,  transparent  onyx  columns 
and  pavements,  flowers,  fountains,  and  luxuriant  gardens. 

The  half-dozen  minarets  still  standing  are  of  beautiful  pro- 
portions and  designs  and  in  the  best  Moorish  style.  The  sole 
reminder  of  one  prince  of  Mansoorah  is  a  minaret  which  is  a 
wonder  of  beauty.  Although  the  face  of  one  side  only,  and 
portions  of  two  other  sides,  remain,  enough  is  there  to  make  it  a 
treasure  of  art.  Fortunately  what  remains  has  been  strength- 
ened and  preserved,  as  well  by  iron  bars  and  new  stone,  as  by 
a  guardian  who  prevents  the  souvenir-seeker  from  clipping  off 
an  ornament  here,  stealing  a  tile  there,  and  writing  his  idiotic 
name  and  date  everywhere.  When  one  finds  the  names  of 
Alexander,  Caesar,  or  Napoleon,  or  even  Thackeray,  engraved 
on  the  Pyramids  or  Aboosimbel  or  Karnak,  one  welcomes  the 
historic  sign ;  but  when  one  sees  the  signature  of  Smith,  Brown, 
or  Hutchinson  —  if  I  remember  rightly,  one  Hutchinson  has 
repeated, his  name  in  tar,  in  letters  a  foot  high,  and  covering 
delicate  and  beautiful  hieroglyphics  on  the  ceiling  and  walls  of 
Egyptian  tombs  and  temples — one  longs  to  tar  and  feather  and 
cut  off  the  ears  of  the  inane  perpetrator.  It  is  a  deplorable 
fact  that  the  number  of  valuable  tiles,  doors,  and  marbles  which 
have  been  thrown  in  a  heap  in  the  museum  at  Tlem9en  cannot 
receive  the  same  attention  as  the  minaret  of  Mansoorah,  be  clas- 
sified, and  preserved  in  a  proper  manner;  objects  are  missing, 
no  one  seems  to  know  why  or  how. 


120  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

Aboo  Yakoub  laid  siege  to  Tlerr^en  for  four  years ;  he  had 
pitched  his  tents  a  mile  from  the  city,  with  the  intention  of 
taking  possession  of  it  by  a  few  days  of  starving  out,  but  found 
that,  having  miscalculated  either  his  strength  or  that  of  the 
Tlem9en  king,  he  might  as  well  make  himself  at  home,  so  he 
began  building  a  city  of  his  own.  The  exquisite  minaret,  and 
the  walls  which  indicate  the  size  and  shape  of  the  mosque  to 
which  they  belong,  a  few  turrets,  and  immense  blocks  of  con- 
crete, which  formed  the  fortified  enclosure,  square  in  general 
outline,  and  embracing  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres,  are  all 
that  remain  to  show  the  power  of  the  rival  prince. 

We  follow  the  old  fortifications  of  Tleni9en  proper  along 
the  lower  edge  of  the  plateau.  Enormous  cacti,  bearing  brill- 
iant flowers  and  fruit,  shrubs,  and  bushes  of  all  kinds,  grow  lux- 
uriantly. A  ferocious  Arab  dog  with  a  hoarse  bark,  showing  his 
fangs,  and  every  hair  bristling,  startles  you  as  he  rushes  out, 
only  stopped  by  a  long  chain.  He  is  guarding  a  cherry  or  fig 
tree  from  the  depredations  of  neighbors.  You  may  know  that 
you  are  near  a  hut  or  tent  almost  hidden  in  the  undergrowth, 
through  which  you  get  a  peep  at  the  handsome  face  of  a  wom- 
an turning  by  a  handle  a  round  piece  of  granite  pivoted  on  a 
similar  piece.  In  this  primitive  mill,  while  she  is  grinding  grain 
or  corn,  the  flour  falls  all  round  the  lower  stone  upon  a  cloth  or 
sheepskin.  Besides  the  natural  screen  formed  of  cactus  and 
medlar  bushes,  there  may  be  others  made  of  reeds  stuck  close 
to  each  other  in  the  ground,  apd  tied  together  at  intervals. 

Bewitching  little  children  scamper  out  Jo  meet  the  passing 
stranger :  "  Sordi,  mossou  "  (a  sou,  monsieur).  And  they  say  it 
with  such  a  charming  and  insinuating  manner,  with  so  much 
rising  and  falling  inflection  in  their  childish  voices,  that  you 
cannot  resist  their  demand;  but  when  you  stop  and  put  your 
hand  in  your  pocket  for  a  coin,  they  take  to  their  heels  until 


AT   TLEMQEN. 


121 


you  persuade  them  to  come  for  their  sordi  and  fear  nothing. 
Then  they  come  nearer,  and  make  a  sign  for  you  to  leave  the 
piece  of  money  on  the  ground.  The  Arabs  are  thus  taught  to 
be  suspicious  of  every  one  from  their  early  childhood.  *  No, 
you  pretty  little  minx,  you  must  take  it  from  my  hand."  One 
of  them  ventures  to  come,  and,  once  in  possession  of  the  coin, 
off  they  go  as  if  demons  were  after  them. 


WASHING-PLACE    WITHOUT   THE    WALLS,  TLEMC.EN. 

Farther  on  we  came  to  a  poo]  where  women,  negresses,  and 
children  were  washing  clothes,  rugs,  and  sheepskins  with  all 
their  might,  and  they  paid  very  little  attention  to  my  guide  and 
me.  Their  hai'ks  were  heaped  on  their  heads,  and  in  their  gir- 
dles were  tucked  superfluous  folds,  while  they  held  their  under- 
garments and  the  outer  gandoura  between  their  knees,  and  with 
bare  arms,  legs,  and  feet  they  squeezed  and  twisted  their  wet 


122  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

linen,  each  one  turning  in  opposite  directions,  and  at  the  same 
time  they  made  their  observations  about  the  roumi  (and  the 
roumi  was  myself),  who  was  delighted  at  finding  this  rare  oppor- 
tunity for  studying  such  a  galaxy  of  beauty,  as  well  as  ugliness, 
arrayed  in  an  infinite  variety  of  stuffs  of  every  color — thick,  thin, 
new,  old,  and  worn.  Yet,  as  with  most  Arab  combinations  of 
color  when  the  natives  are  left  to  themselves,  and  are  not  influ- 
enced to  use  some  of  our  cheap  and  vile  dyes,  arsenic  green,  so- 
called  magenta,  and  the  like,  all  was  harmonious.  The  women 
of  Tlem9en,  faithful  to  the  custom  of  half-civilized  races,  always 
wear  a  great  deal  of  jewellery,  and  do  not  leave  it  aside  even 
when  hard  at  work.  Perceiving  that  the  women  at  this  wash- 
ing-place made  considerable  exhibition  of  their  charms,  I  sup- 
posed that  the  men  kept  away,  as  they  would  get  themselves 
into  trouble  if  seen  loitering  about. 

Farther  on  we  came  to  a  native  tannery,  and  our  noses  were 
not  wrong,  in  suspecting  its  whereabouts.  A  dozen  Arabs,  all 
brown  as  if  they  had  been  fished  out  of  the  vats,  were  appar- 
ently so  saturated  with  the  atmosphere  in  which  they  were  at 
work  that  their  noses  refused  to  smell  any  more.  Of  course 
this  scene  would  not  have  been  complete  without  three  or  four 
ferocious  dogs. 

Sidi-el-Halawi  (the  sweetmeat  maker),  without  the  walls,  is 
a  complete  mosque,  but,  unfortunately,  it  is  neglected.  Birds 
build  their  nests  where  they  please  ;  the  matting  is  old  and  full 
of  dust,  the  fountain  dilapidated  and  dry.  The  minaret  and 
especially  the  eight  onyx  columns  are  of  very  beautiful  design. 
The  sidi  probably  has  his  anniversary,  when  his  mosque  enjoys 
a  benefit,  and  is  at  least  swept  and  illuminated. 

Although  it  is  dealing  with  personalities,  I  must  give  my 
reader  the  name  of  my  guide,  a  Tlen^enite  of  much  good- 
nature and  suavity  of  manner,  as  well  as  dignity  of  bearing, 


AT  TLEMQEN. 


123 


for  the  name  is  characteristic.  Miloud  ben  Mohammed  ben 
Koujahbass  was  familiarly  known  as  Baba  Miloud,  or  Pere 
Miloud,  throughout  the  town,  owing,  I  suppose,  first  to  his  ad- 


ONYX    COLUMN    AT   SIDI-EL-HALAWI. 


vanced  age — sixty-eight — and.  to  his  being  a  "  numerous  grand- 
father,1' and,  secondly,  to  the  fact  that  he  takes  under  his  pro- 
tecting wing  all  the  strangers  to  his  native  soil,  to  show  them 
the  sights,  and  by  his  winning  ways  keeps  them  for  some  time 
under  his  wing  at  the  rate  of  three  francs  a  day,  although  he 

could   show  all  there   is   to  see   in  the   town   and   environs  in 
8 


124  WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 

one  complete  circle   of  the  short  hand  of  a  watch,  and  that  at 
leisure. 

On  our  return  from  Sidi-el-Halawi  we  re-entered  Tlen^en 
through  one  of  the  several  great  portals.  Threescore  beggars, 
some  in  rags,  some  without  them,  were  basking  in  the  noonday 
sun  against  the  walls.  Sheep  and  goats,  on  the  other  hand, 
were,  like  Miloud  and  I,  skirting  along  the  angle  of  the  wall  in 
shade  to  avoid  the  hot  sun.  Horses  and  donkeys  stood  under 
plantain-trees  which  bordered  a  high-road,  and  near  tents  where 
swarmed  babies,  young  dogs,  and  kids,  all  mixed  up  with  pans 
and  kettles,  wooden  kouskous  dishes,  sieves,  coils  of  rope,  and 
sheepskins ;  in  short,  all  the  accessaries  which  correspond  with 
the  thousand-and-one  utensils  of  the  .travelling  mountebank 
encamped  on  the  road -side,  with  whom  we  are  familiar  in  the 
north. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

WANDERINGS   IN  THE   TOWN. 

WITHIN  the  gates  long  rows  of  shops  do  a  good  busi- 
ness, wholesale  and  retail,  in  calicoes,  prints,  hand- 
kerchiefs, cheap  woollen  and  cotton  dry  goods,  of 
bright  reds  and  yellows,  common  laces,  and  cobweb  gauzes, 
gold  braid,  etc.  Of  all  these  articles  the  handkerchiefs  are  the 
most  used  —  some  being  decorated  with  geometrical  designs, 
others  with  birds  and  ducks,  others  being  plain  black  with 
colored  borders,  and  gold  thread  woven  in.  Women  and  chil- 
dren use  them  to  tie  round  the  head  in  various  ways,  men  to  tie 
up  their  hai'k,  which  is  rolled  in  front  so  as  not  to  interfere  with 
walking;  the  poor  man,  who  dispenses  with  a  turban,  wears  a 
handkerchief  in  a  roll  round  his  head,  leaving  the  crown  bare. 
Housewives  use  the  large  ones  for  tying  up  bundles  and  cover- 
ing dishes.  But,  if  it  must  be  said,  the  use  for  which  this  con- 
venient little  square  of  cotton,  silk,  or  linen  is  intended,  and 
which  we  are  accustomed  to  consider  so  indispensable,  is  not 
recognized  among  this  people,  or  to  a  very  limited  extent.  Next 
to  the  handkerchief-shop  comes  a  grocer's,  with  jars  of  oil  and 
butter  more  or  less  rancid — jars  which  could  well  figure  in  the 
pantomime  of  Aii-Baba — strings  of  onions,  garlic,  splendid  red 
peppers,  hung  outside  against  the  walls  —  lentils,  semolino,  in 
boxes  and  baskets.  The  next  may  be  a  saddler's  shop,"  wifh 
piles  of  leather  heaped  on  shelves.  The  merchants  \vere  in- 


126  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

dustriously  at  work,  embroidering  with  skill  and  good  taste  the 
backs  and  pommels  of  red  saddle-covers,  pouches  and  purses, 
in  gold,  silver,  and  silken  threads.  Few  of  the  shops  have  a 
second  story.  In  large  market- squares,  well  shaded  with  big 
trees,  dealers  in  second-hand  clothing,  old  iron,  fire-arms,  fruit, 
pottery,  spread  their  goods ;  children  play  around  in  bright 
costumes,  like  tropical  birds  let  loose,  and  crowds  of  lazy  men 
lounge  in  groups  at  cafes,  watching  games  of  draughts. 

At  the  grand  mosque  in  the  centre  of  the  town  great  num- 
bers congregate  at  noon  for  worship.  The  round  basin  in  the 
middle  of  the  great  open  court,  paved  with  slabs  of  Algerine 
onyx  and  with  bricks,  is  surrounded  by  dumb  devotees,  per- 
forming their  ablutions  with  much  noise  of  splashing  of  water 
and  expectoration.  I  was  allowed  to  continue  my  study  in  the 
court  while  the  service  was  going  on.  With  the  regularity  of 
our  sect  of  Shakers  the  squatting  battalions  of  Moslems  bow, 
kiss  the  floor,  rise  to  their  feet,  kneel  again  in  long  rows,  fill- 
ing the  mosque  from  one  side  to  the  other,  only  separated  by 
the  large  square  columns,  of  which  there  are  over  seventy.  A 
grand  chant  of  sixteen  or  twenty  measures  is  often  repeated  at 
regular  intervals  by  the  whole  assembly.  All  else  is  absolute 
silence,  save  the  sonorous  voice  of  the  mufti  reciting  verses  of 
the  Koran. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  central  public  square  is  a  school,  a 
small  Babel  of  sixty  boys  or  more.  The  intellectual  training  of 
children  is  very  limited,  and  causes  but  little  anxiety  to  parents, 
who  teach  them  in  early  childhood  to  repeat,  "  I  testify  that  Mo- 
hammed is  God's  apostle,"  and  to  hate  Christians.  The  remain- 
der of  their  education  consists  in  the  acquirement  of  a  few  rudi- 
mentary rules  of  arithmetic,  and  the  continuance  of  committing 
to  memory  as  much  of  the  Koran  as  possible.  [Let  it  be  un- 
derstood that  we  are  referring  to  the  purely  Arab  schools,  and 


WANDERINGS    IN   THE   TOWN.  127 

not  to  others,  where  French  influence  is  gaining  ground.  One 
of  the  largest  buildings  in  Algiers  is  the  Lyceum,  where  about 
eight  hundred  Christians,  Jews,  and  Mohammedans  are  educated 
together.]  The  old  professor  of  the  school  on  the  public  square 
has  assistants  of  different  ages  for  the  younger  boys,  so  that 
there  is  a  continual  running  stream  of  big  and  little  voices,  each 
trying  to  outcry  the  other;  higher  and  more  shrill  they  yell  as 
they  take  in  a  fresh  breath,  and  repeat  what  they  know  at  such 
a  rate  that  it  seems  impossible  that  any  one  should  distinguish 
one  syllable  from  another.  In  fact,  during  my  stay  I  often  asked 
my  young  factotum  of  the  day  what  was  being  recited ;  his  only 
answer  was  a  significant  shrug  of  the  shoulders:  "Je  sais  pas, 
mossou — connais  pas  9a,  moi."  Allah — Illah-Allah-Achbah-Mo- 
hammed-wally-golly-jolly-holly,  repeated  at  the  top  of  your  voice, 
and  at  lightning  speed,  a  thousand  times  a  minute  if  you  can,  will 
give  you,  my  reader,  a  faint  idea  of  what  one  of  the  youngsters 
is  saying;  then  multiply  by  the  number  engaged  in  this  noisy 
method  of  committing  the  Koran  to  memory,  and  you  may  get 
still  nearer  the  effect.  Children  are  made  to  recite  in  as  loud  a 
voice  as  possible  in  order  to  strengthen  their  lungs — a  require- 
ment especially  necessary  for  a  muezzin,  who  calls  to  prayer 
from  the  top  of  the  minaret.  Those  who  are  to  follow  a  trade 
are  sometimes  taught  writing  and  a  little  useful  arithmetic.  To 
vary  the  monotony  of  these  recitations  at  school  the  lad  is 
occasionally  taken  across  the  knees  of  the  old  teacher,  who  sits 
tailor  fashion,  holds  the  offender  by  the  ankles,  and  administers 
blows  with  a  rod  on  the  soles  of  his  feet  —  a  mild  form  of  bas- 
tinado. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

ABOUT    THE    CHILDREN. 

THE  pupil's  stationery  and  books  at  the  Arab  school  do 
not  cost  his  parents  a  great  amount.  A  slate,  so  called, 
but  made  of  hard-wood,  is  the  medium  of  knowledge. 
The  surface  becomes  as  smooth  as  glass  by  repeated  application 
of  fine  pipe-clay,  which  is  moistened  with  water  and  rubbed  on 
with  the  fingers.  When  the  lad  has  filled  his  slate  on  both 
sides  with  dictations  from  the  Koran,  written  in  ink  with  a  reed- 
pen,  and  has  committed  its  contents  to  memory,  he  washes  it 
and  renews  the  coating  of  clay.  A  mistake  is  easily  corrected 
with  the  wet  finger.  The  Arab  boy  has  all  the  mischief  of  any 
other  school-boy,  and  as  he  must  break,  chew,  crack,  nick,  and 
mend  something,  his  slate  ends  by  being  a  kind  of  one-horse- 
shay  put  together  again  with  glue,  nails,  and  bits  of  tin  and 
brass,  cross-beams  and  corners;  the  marvellous  clay  fills  up 
all  the  chinks.  On  the  wall  hangs  a  large  blackboard ;  on  the 
floor-matting  lie  burnooses  and  shoes,  but  no  primers,  gram- 
mars, geographies,  or  other  ink-stained  accessaries  which  strew 
the  benches  and  desks  of  our  schools.  Groups  of  dear  little 
black-eyed  boys  from  three  to  five  years  old,  other  groups  of 
.different  classes,  youths  of  seventeen,  eighteen,  all  wearing  their 
red  tarbooshes  with  big  blue  tassels,  jackets  and  burnooses  of 
all  shades  and  colors,  enlivened  by  streaks  and  spots  of  sunlight 
sifted  through  the  intricate  designs  of  the  windows  and  stained 
glass,  make  a  charming  kaleidoscope.  All  around  is  the  plain 


YOUNG   GIRL    OF   TLEMQEN. 


ABOUT  THE  CHILDREN.  131 

whitewashed  wainscoting,  considerably  soiled  and  stained  by  the 
backs,  hands,  and  heads  that  lean  against  it,  and  above  are  ex- 
quisite arabesques  in  stucco;  for  the  interior,  though  somewhat 
dilapidated,  is  untouched  by  the  restorer's  hand,  and  remains  one 
of  the  very  finest  examples  of  Moorish  art.  The  building  was  a 
small  mosque,  the  ornamented  and  painted  wooden  ceiling  of 
which,  almost  in  ruins,  is  supported  by  arches  and  onyx  columns. 

Wending  our  way  through  the  streets,  we  passed  jewellers' 
shops — that  is,  dingy  little  recesses  where  workers  in  silver  made 
anklets,  haik-pins,  bracelets,  with  rude  instruments — with  furnace, 
bellows,  and  anvil  that  would  become  a  blacksmith.  A  juvenile 
Israelite,  with  the  instincts  of  race  and  of  the  trade  which  he 
was  destined  to  continue  after  his  father,  implored  me  to  pur- 
chase something  while  he  jingled  his  wares  before  my  eyes. 

I  must  again  refer  to  the  children,  for  this  street  was  teem- 
ing with  little  Tlem9enites  who  had  never  left,  and  probably 
never  would  leave,  their  native  town.  The  boys,  when  running 
about,  wear  nothing  but  a  long  white  chemise  and  dark  blue 
vest ;  but  of  all  bewitching  creatures  in  the  world,  the  little  girls 
can  scarcely  be  surpassed.  They  are  everywhere,  and  must 
strike  a  stranger,  certainly  an  artist,  as  a  prominent  feature  of 
interest.  Some  are  going  to  the  baker's,  carrying  unbaked 
loaves  piled  on  a  plank  on  the  head ;  others  with  little  brass- 
bound  buckets  brimming  with  milk ;  singly,  in  crowds,  always 
fascinating,  not  only  pretty,  but  arrayed  in  an  infinite  variety  of 
costumes,  they  dart  from  shadow  into  sunlight,  and  disappear  in 
a  twinkling  round  a  corner  or  through  a  door-way.  They  wear, 
first,  a  white  chemise  with  gauze  sleeves,  over  it  a  gandoura, 
or  chemise  without  sleeves,  and  reaching  nearly  to  the  ankles, 
usually  of  printed  calico,  glaring  in  color  and  with  spots,  stripes, 
birds,  branches,  and  leaves.  This  gandoura  is  sometimes  of  rich 
brocade  or  light  silk;  over  the  first  they  often  wear  a  second 


132  WINTERS   IN  ALGERIA. 

gandoura  of  tulle  with  a  design  in  it,  ordinarily  nothing  more  or 
less  than  common  white  lace  curtain  stuff.  All  the  materials 
hang  limp,  and  flutter  when  they  run.  Round  the  waist  a  broad 
ceinture,  and  over  the  shoulders  a  little  bodice.  On  the  head  a 
conical  cap,  almost  always  of  crimson  velvet  more  or  less  orna- 
mented with  gold  thread.  Children  and  unmarried  girls  wear 
the  caps  with  a  strap  under  the  chin;  married  women  tie  them 
on  with  a  colored  handkerchief,  besides  the  strap.  Their  hair 
is  fringed  square  just  over  the  eyebrows,  and  plaited  down  the 
back;  the  operation  of  dyeing  it  dark  brownish  wine-color  re- 
quires several  days,  during  which  time  they  appear  certainly  at  a 
disadvantage.  Henna  is  made  into  a  mushy  paste  and  plastered 
all  over  the  head,  as  much  as  the  hair,  being  tied  up  all  over, 
can  hold  in  place,  and  even  more,  for  it  runs  down  the  neck, 
the  cheeks,  and  into  the  ears.  The  process  gives  somewhat  the 
appearance  of  a  head  modelled  in  wax,  with  the  hair  studied  in 
masses.  The  palms  of  the  hands,  the  fingers,  and  the  feet  and 
toes  are  also  stained.  A  charming  little  neighbor  of  mine,  who 
lived  near  my  hotel  window,  was  missing  for  several  days ;  I  af- 
terwards found  her  sitting  mournfully  near  her  own  door-sill,  all 
the  forearm  and  hand  very  much  swollen ;  she  had  been  under- 
going the  painful  operation  of  having  her  person  beautified  by 
lozenges,  stars,  and  stripes,  pricked  in  with  needles  and  dyed 
with  Indian-ink,  or  something  of  the  kind.  To  make  one  job 
of  it,  she  had  her  head  plastered  with  henna  at  the  same  time. 
So  much  for  coquetry.  I  offered  my  sympathy.  "Ah,  my  little 
friend,  to  be  beautiful  you  must  suffer,"  I  said  to  her,  and  my 
young  factotum  put  my  words  into  good  Arabic.  She  had  noth- 
ing the  matter  with  her  heels,  however,  although  they  were  of 
a  deep  burnt-sienna,  for  she  made  use  of  them  to  carry  herself 
into  her  house  in  a  flash,  forgetting  for  the  moment  her  lame 
arm,  which  she  had  been  so  tenderly  nursing. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

BOU-MEDINE. 

A  OUT  a  mile  to  the  east  of  Tlerr^en  stands  the  village 
of  Bou-Medine,  on  a  more  elevated  slope.     As  a  town  it 
is  dead ;  one  cafe  may  be  said  to  be  in  a  semi-flourishing 
condition. 

The  old  patron  saint,  Sidi  Bou-Medine,  or  Median,  sleeps 
peacefully  in  his  khouba,  ever  cared  for  and  continually  vis- 
ited. The  keeper  is  unceasingly  running  in  and  out  with  his 
bunch  of  keys,  to  open  the  door  of  the  khouba  to  pilgrims  and 
visitors,  from  all  of  whom  he  receives  a  gratuity.  The  khouba 
is  covered  with  silk  draperies,  overhung  with  flags,  ex  votoes, 
candles,  ostrich  eggs,  inscriptions  under  glass.  The  open  court 
which  gives  access  to  the  tomb  is  reached  by  about  fifteen  steps 
leading  down  from  another  narrow  outer  court.  Four  beautiful 
onyx  columns,  and  the  old  marble  well,  are  very  interesting. 
Two  buckets  at  the  end  of  a  lon^  chain  have  so  often  been  let 

O 

down  and  drawn  up  with  the  sacred  water  during  the  last  six 
hundred  years  that  the  marble  is  worn  in  grooves  fifteen  inches 
deep.  Small  tiles — green,  brown,  yellow,  white — each  with  in- 
tricate ornaments  in  relief,  once  covered  the  floor,  but  souvenir- 
seekers  have  dug  up  and  pocketed  so  many  that  the  keeper  is 
now  made  responsible  to  the  French  Government  for  every  one 
remaining.  While  making  studies  in  the  delightfully  quiet  re- 
treat, I  had  a  rare  opportunity  for  observing  the  women  who 


134 


WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 


came  to  burn  incense  at  the  door  of  the  khouba,  and  to  implore 
of  the  sidi — Monsieur  Bou-Medine — his  aid  and  blessing.  (They 
also  call  upon  the  Prophet,  addressing  him  Sidi  or  Mr.  Moham- 
med.) They  came  down  the  steps  still  veiled,  but  seeing  only  a 
roumi  making  a  study,  they  let  go  the  hai'k,  which  they  hold  so 


CEMETERY   OF    SIDI    ABD-EL-RHAMAN,  ALGIERS. 

tightly  that  one  eye  peers  out  at  a  triangular  opening  only  large 
enough  to  see  through.  They  do  not  wear  the  veil  as  in  Algiers. 
It  is  to  be  remarked  as  a  curious  fact  that  the  costume  of  the 
pure-blooded  women  and  children  of  Tlen^en  is  almost  identical 
with  that  worn  by  the  Jewesses  of  Constantine,  farther  removed 


BOU-MEDINE.  135 

than  Algiers,  in  which  latter  city  the  costume,  though  similar 
in  some  points,  is  quite  different  in  others.  The  dress  of  the 
Tlem9en  women  also  resembles  that  of  Morocco ;  but  this  is 
not  surprising,  as  the  frontier  of  that  country  is  only  about  forty- 
five  miles  distant. 

Opposite  the  tomb  of  the  sidi  is  the  mosque  named  after 
him.  This  lovely  specimen  of  pure  Moorish  architecture  is  in 
an  almost  perfect  state  of  preservation,  and  it  so  forcibly  recalls 
the  Alhambra  that  one  feels  almost  as  though  standing  with 
one  foot  in  this  celebrated  palace  and  the  other  in  the  mosque 
of  Bou-Medine.  A  dozen  steps  lead  up  to  gigantic  doors  faced 
with  bronze  plaques  about  a  sixteenth  of  an  inch  in  thickness 
and  of  geometrical  design — a  chef-d'oeuvre  of  the  kind.  The 
doors  are  fastened  inside  with  bolts  of  bronze  nearly  three  feet 
long  and  about  three  inches  in  diameter,  the  vertical  bolt  being 
slipped  through  a  hole  in  the  horizontal  one.  The  tiled  courts 
are  the  play-ground  for  our  little  favorites,  the  children.  Having 
worked  in .  the  sacred  precincts  for  several  consecutive  days,  I 
finally  succeeded  in  getting  some  of  the  children  to  pose.  Of 
course  the  attractive  and  prettily  dressed  creatures  had  every 
objection  to  posing,  but  enjoyed  the  joke  of  lending  portions  of 
their  clothing  to  their  little  friends,  whose  poverty  and  need  of 
gaining  a  few  sous  outweighed  their  hereditary  scruples  against 
being  portrayed.  I  am  tempted  to  say  that  there  were  three 
hundred,  but  I  believe  a  dozen  children  is  nearer  the  real  num- 
ber, that  flew  around  me  in  the  greatest  excitement.  My  model 
having  completed  her  attira  with  one  gandoura  too  long,  the 
other  too  short,  and  with  a  bodice  so  tight  under  the  arms  that 
it  almost  lifted  her  off  the  ground,  began  asking  me  at  the  end 
of  five  minutes  if  I  had  not  finished  my  sketch,  and  declared  that 
she  was  entitled  to  a  franc  for  every  five  minutes  beyond  the 
price  stipulated.  All  her  friends  supported  her  in  her  claims, 


136  WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 

and  declared  that  they  would  pull  her  hair  out  if  she  stayed  an- 
other minute,  and  wipe  out  my  sketch  if  I  detained  her.  In  this 
pandemonium  I  worked  with  my  hair  standing  on  end,  and 
my  nerves  almost  beyond  control ;  a  menagerie  on  fire  could 
not  have  afforded  more  excitement.  My  only  way  out  of  this 
Babel  was,  after  half  an  hour's  work  under  the  trying  circum- 
stances, to  offer  a  franc  to  the  eldest  of  the  party  to  clear  the 
mosque.  This  offer  was  accepted,  and  I  was  soon  left  alone  to 
put  in  my  background. 

Of  course  my  companion  Miloud  was  asleep  at  the  cafe  when 
I  most  needed  him.  This  was  altogether  an  eventful  day ;  from 
my  first  breakfast  I  was  destined  to  partially  fast  till  the  even- 
ing, as  will  be  seen.  My  substantial  meal  for  noonday  had  been 
prepared  and  arranged  in  a  basket,  of  which  Miloud  took  charge. 
While  I  made  a  morning  study  within  the  mosque,  and  my  wor- 
thy guide  snoozed  in  a  corner,  the  basket  had  been  left  outside 
the  door,  which  I  had  closed  on  account  of  the  cold  draught. 
When  I  felt  that  work  could  go  no  further  without  sustenance  I 
woke  Miloud  and  asked  for  breakfast ;  but,  lo  and  behold  !  on 
swinging  back  the  ponderous  doors  we  disturbed  poor  pussy, 
who  went  flying  down  the  steps  with  the  carcass  of  our  chicken, 
for  nothing  else  remained  for  her  to  finish  but  the  small  bottle 
of  wine  and  a  few  eggs,  which  rolled  out  and  followed  her  down- 
stairs. Our  humpty-dumpties  had  their  fall,  but  we  gathered  up 
their  broken  skulls  and  divided  the  remains,  and  with  bread  and 
wine,  the  latter  of  which  was  left  entirely  to  me,  thanks  to  Mi- 
loud's  scruples,  we  fared  as  best  we  could ;  and  then  he  repaired 
to  the  neighboring  cafe  and  brought  me  back  a  cup  of  hot  cof- 
fee, which  at  that  time  seemed  the  best  I  had  ever  drunk.  My 
Moslem  friend  requested  me,  while  breakfasting  in  the  court,  not 
to  spill  a  drop  of  wine,  for  it  would  defile  the  mosque,  and  offend 
the  Prophet  and  his  own  religious  principles.  With  this  request 


BOU-MEDINE. 


137 


DOORS    OE    THE    MOSQUE. 


I  was  pleased  to  comply.  Lady  friends  told  me  that  in  visit- 
ing this  mosque  and  tomb  they  had  taken  off  their  shoes  and 
stockings  at  tne  door;  which  act  oi  consideration  and  respect 
for  the  keeper's  religion  so  much  pleased  him  that  he  insisted 


138  WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 

upon  having  them  come  to  his  own  house,  contiguous  to  the 
mosque,  to  see  his  family  and  take  coffee,  which  cordial  recep- 
tion they  very  much  enjoyed.  This  happened  on  a  chill  rainy 
day,  and  the  outer  court,  steps,  and  inner  courts  were  large 
expanses  of  tiling  to  be  crossed  before  reaching  shelter  and 
the  matting  within ;  the  act  was,  in  consequence,  all  the  more 
appreciated. 

My  lucky  star  guided  me  early  one  morning  to  the  mosque, 
and  assisted  me  in  gaining  access  while  the  women  of  the  town 
were  in  the  midst  of  their  work  of  general  washing  and  scrub- 
bing with  buckets  of  water  (taken  from  the  central  fountain)  and 
short  brooms.  They  were  attired  in  the  same  semi-dishabille  as 
described  in  other  pages — barefooted,  their  clothes  tucked  above 
the  knees,  their  sleeves  tied  on  the  back  between  the  shoulders, 
and  wearing  a  profusion  of  jewellery.  The  following  week  my 
star  met  with  more  difficulty,  for  the  keeper  was  prepared  to 
shut  the  outer  door  in  my  face ;  but  with  the  silver  key  so  pow- 
erful in  that  country  I  was  admitted.  Continuing  to  use  the 
same  instrument,  I  was  allowed  to  see  the  sacrifice  of  a-  sheep 
in  the  court  of  the  keeper's  private  dwelling.  In  the  centre 
was  an  octagonal  fountain  filled  with  plants ;  at  one  side  an- 
other smaller  fountain  of  marble,  scalloped  and  ribbed,  and 
surrounded  by  a  square  basin  prettily  ornamented  with  tiles. 
Everything  was  scrupulously  clean,  like  the  dress  of  the  hand- 
some keeper.  The  faithful  Moslem  whose  crops  had  been  pro- 
ductive, or  whose  prayers  had  been  answered  to  his  satisfaction 
in  some  way,  was  apparently  a  tent  Arab  who  had  promised  a 
sheep  to  Sidi  Bou-Medine  if  he  would  intercede  with  Allah  for 
his  benefit ;  for  they  wait  until  their  demands  are  answered  ac- 
cording, to  their  desire  before  they  make  the  sacrifice.  A  large 
portion  of  every  animal  sacrificed  is  the  rightful  part  of  the 
keeper;  the  remainder  goes  to  the  poor.  The  bleating  sheep, 


BOU-MEDINE.  139 

apparently  apprehensive  of  something  wrong,  was  dragged  to  a 
hole  in  the  corner  of  the  court  through  which  the  water  ran 
from  the  fountain,  and  became  an  easy  victim  to  the  knife.  It 
was  not  altogether  a  pleasant  thought  to  entertain  that  the 
Mohammedan  would  have  held  my  own  neck  over  the  run- 
ning water  with  about  as  much  conviction  of  having  fulfilled 
his  duty  to  the  teachings  of  the  Prophet.  Near  the  steps  of 
the  mosque  is  a  large  trough  of  marble  filled  with  running 
water,  where  these  sacrifices  are  usually  made.  A  room  to 
the  left  of  the  entrance  was  used  as  a  school — the  only  one, 
I  believe,  in  the  deserted  village.  The  privileged  boys  were 
taught  here,  and  made  the  court  ring  for  six  or  seven  hours 
a  day  with  their  recitations,  while  the  girls,  who  receive  no 
education,  spent  most  of  their  time  in  play.  They  never  for- 
got the  blessings  which  they  coveted,  for  the  latch  and  iron 
knocker  on  the  door  leading  to  the  tomb  of  the  sidi  was 
rattled  and  raised  every  now  and  then  by  one  or  the  other, 
accompanied  with  plaintive  and  earnest  ejaculations,  "  Ya  sidi ! 
ya  sidi !"  in  order  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  marabout ; 
then  off  they  would  scamper  again  at  their  romps,  and  my 
easel  was  generally  the  pivot  round  which  they  turned  and 
danced. 

At  noon  the  special  keeper  of  the  mosque  alone  filled  the 
office  of  muezzin,  and  called  to  prayer  from  his  minaret.  The 
tiles  ornamenting  the  tower  and  the  roofs  glistened  and  spar- 
kled under  the  mid -day  sun.  Blue  smoke  curled  from  the 
dwellings.  In  the  courts  of  the  houses  we  could  catch  glimpses 
of  the  inmates  preparing  their  portion  of  soup  or  making  cof- 
fee ;  for  we  often  took  our  breakfast  under  a  tree  higher  up 
against  the  hill  overlooking  the  roofs  of  Bou-Medine,  the  flat 
terraces,  and  the  houses  below.  The  voice  of  the  muezzin  was 
trained  to  carry  a  great  distance,  and  as  he  repeated  "  Allah, 


140  WINTERS   IN   ALGER&. 

Illah !"  towards  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth,  prolonging  and 
swelling  the  latter  syllables  with  a  gradually  rising  inflection, 
ending  suddenly  with  the  last  breath  left  in  his  lungs,  it 
seemed  as  if  in  the  absolute  stillness  around  us  the  sonorous 
waves  could  float  across  the  vast  plain  stretching  out  below, 
and  quivering  under  the  sun,  to  the  Mediterranean  beyond  the 
distant  hills. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

MILOUD. 

RETURNING  to  Tlem9en,  we  passed  nearly  every  day 
through  the  cemetery,  where  groups  of  women  mourners 
were  huddled  together,  talking  in  whispers  over  a  new 
grave.  The  new  tombstones,  a  slab  at  the  head,  another  at  the 
feet,  were  rounded  at  the  top,  and  on  the  flat  surfaces  the  in- 
scriptions (in  relief)  were  painted  in  bright  colors. 

Miloud  and  I  talked  over  the  events  of  the  day,  and  he  aired 
some  peculiar  views  on  various  subjects.  He  informed  me  that 
the  large  lizards,  bellam,  which  would  dart  across  our  path  were 
the  destroyers  of  the  dead  bodies.  "  Now,  Miloud,  why  do  you 
not  educate  the  girls?" 

"  Oh,  mats  non.  The  girls  are  of  no  consequence ;  they  can 
help  to  do  housework  and  wash  the  pavement  of  the  mosques, 
and  wait  till  they  are  married — good  for  nothing  but  man's  use 
and  pleasure.  All  misfortune  in  this  world  comes  through  the 
women ;  they  are  to  blame  for  everything  that  goes  wrong,  and 
when  a  husband  gets  tired  of  his  wife  he  has  a  perfect  right 
to  shunt  her  off." 

"  But,  Miloud,  you  may  not  be  enlightened  according  to  our 
views ;  you  need  to  make  a  trip  to  our  northern  countries,  where 
you  will  find  that  I  am  not  the  only  one  to  uphold  the  rights  of 
the  fair  sex." 

He  stopped  me  short  in  the  road,  and  with  his  forefinger  to 
9 


142  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

his  forehead,  he  said,  gravely,  "  Really,  monsieur,  it  is  incompre- 
hensible ;  you  look  like  an  intelligent  man,  and  seem  to  know 
a  good  many  things  and  judge  of  them  in  a  sensible  manner, 
just  as  I  do;  but  about  the  women  I  cannot  understand  how 
you  can  talk  in  this  way.  Eh  ?" 

To  change  the  subject  for  a  moment,  I  asked  him  for  my 
overcoat,  and  remarked  that  the  evening  was  growing  chilly, 
and  as  we  had  been  walking  fast,  I  thought  it  prudent  for  me 
to  put  it  on,  giving  my  reasons  for  avoiding  cold.  He  saw 
in  my  remarks  signs  of  reasoning  power,  and  I  was  flattered 
when  he  said  to  me,  "Ah,  that  is  just  what  I  was  going  to  tell 
you  to  do,  to  put  on  your  overcoat.  Did  you  think  of  that 
yourself  ?  You  have  indeed  some  good  ideas.  Bravo  !" 

You  will  not  be  astonished,  reader,  after  the  above  example, 
to  learn  that  Miloud  was  a  guide  as  far  as  showing  one  which 
path  to  take  to  make  short-cuts  to  the  different  places  of  inter- 
est, but  that  he  was  found  wanting  in  information.  "  Now,  Mi- 
loud  ben  Mohammed  ben  Koujahbass  ben  Alexander  the  Great, 
how  did  those  corner-stones  to  the  left,  and  this  large  one  in 
the  middle  bearing  Roman  inscriptions,  find  their  way  into 
the  construction  of  this  beautiful  minaret  built  by  the  Moorish 
kings  of  Tlem9en  ?"  I  asked  as  we  stopped  on  our  roundabout 
way  home  before  the  ruins  of  a  mosque  near  the  ancient  walls 
overgrown  with  weeds,  grass,  and  bramble. 

"Ah,  monsieur,  you  see  my  friends  here"  (pointing  to  sev- 
eral workmen  making  excavations  near  by)  "  are  digging  up 
bricks  and  pieces  of  statues  and  columns  and  stones  of  the 
same  kind ;  but,  ahem  !  monsieur,  just  open  your  guide-book, 
turn  to  Tlem9en,  ruins  of  Aghadir,  and  you  will  find  out  all 
about  it." 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

MARRIAGE    CEREMONIES. 

MI  LOUD  reminded  me  that  two  wedding  processions 
would  take  place  that  evening  in  Tlemgen,  and  that 
we  had  better  leave  the  Roman  remains  for  another 
day,  have  dinner,  and.  meet  on  the  Place  at  the  cafe  immediately 
after,  for  the  festivities  were  to  begin  as  soon  as  it  was  dark 
enough  for  the  torches  to  make  their  effect.  As  he  had  gone 
through  the  ceremony  himself  once  upon  a  time,  he  told  me 
how  such  things  were  managed  and  how  marriage  contracts 
were  made.  The  grandmothers  of  the  proposed  bride  and 
bridegroom  on  the  fathers'  side  have  an  informal  and  prelimi- 
nary talk  as  to  whether  the  alliance  is  possible.  They,  too,  ap- 
preciate the  wisdom  of  the  saying,  "  La  nuit  porte  conseil ;"  and 
if  the  next  morning  the  old  ladies  still  find  no  objection,  the 
matter  is  carried  on  by  the  fathers,  who  come  to  an  agreement 
about  the  sum  of  money  to  be  paid  by  the  bridegroom ;  this 
varies,  of  course,  with  the  standing  and  wealth  of  the  parties 
concerned.  The  bride  is  sometimes  an  orphan  in  possession 
of  a  fortune,  in  which  case  she  can  make  her  own  terms  and 
marry  more  from  her  own  choice,  but  ordinarily  the  bride  and 
bridegroom  are  chosen  by  the  parents.  The  young  man  may 
never  have  seen  his  intended,  but  it  not  unfrequently  happens 
that  they  have  been  playmates  until  the  time  when  it  is  deemed 
proper,  and  according  to  custom,  that  the  girl  should  be  veiled 


144  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

having  attained  the  age  of  twelve  or  thirteen  years.  In  Algiers, 
however,  little  girls  of  good  family,  six  or  eight  years  old,  are 
seen  wearing  the  veil.  The  girl  has  this  advantage  over  the 
young  man,  that,  through  the  triangular  opening  of  her  haik, 
she  can  always,  though  perhaps  with  but  one  eye,  get  a  good 
look  at  her  future  husband.  The  ceremony  may  take  place  at 
any  time  of  the  day  or  in  the  evening;  the  working  tradesman 
chooses  the  evening,  while  others,  men  of  means  and  leisure, 
prolong  the  feasts  and  receptions  to  three  or  four  days. 

The  family  and  male  friends  assemble  at  the  bridegroom's 
house  and  join  in  the  procession  through  the  town.  The  bride 
is  then  conducted  to  his  dwelling,  where  she  waits  for  him  in 
an  inner  chamber,  seated  on  a  bed,  as  upright  and  motionless 
as  an  idol,  and  holding  in  her  hands  a  folded  handkerchief. 
As  to  the  reason  for  this  custom,  Miloud's  only  explanation 
was,  "  C'est  1'habitude,  comme  9a."  The  bridegroom  enters 
the  room  alone,  removes  the  veil,  and  looks  for  the  first  time 
upon  a  face  perhaps  entirely  strange  to  him,  perhaps  that  of 
a  former  playmate — the  face  of  his  fiancee  of  a  month  or  of 
several  years.  At  this  moment  the  women  population,  the  in- 
vited guests  in  other  parts  of  the  house,  as  well  as  the  uninvited 
females  who  are  peeping  into  the  courts  from  every  available 
position  on  the  neighboring  terraces,  break  out  in  their  semi- 
barbaric  method  of  showing  their  approval  with  their  "  You- 
you-you-you-you !"  Screeching  clarinets,  blown  by  the  pair  of 
cheeks  of  a  professional  musician,  distended  by  habitual  prac- 
tice until  they  might  be  used  for  a  blacksmith's  bellows,  big 
drums  beaten  with  the  ends  of  curved  sticks,  small  double 
drums  beaten  with  long  straight  sticks,  tambourines  and  der- 
boukas  thumped  upon  with  callous  hands,  create  an  infernal 
racket — noise  is  too  mild  to  express  it — while  the  ever-stirring 
element,  the  children,  ranging  in  years  from  babyhood  to  the 


MARRIAGE   CEREMONIES.  147 

toddling  age,  are  everywhere,  and  enjoy  themselves  in  their  own 
unrestrained  manner,  gorgeous  in  their  best  attire,  like  parrots 
and  pheasants. 

The  bridegroom,  on  reappearing  in  the  court,  is  made'  to  sit 
on  a  cushion,  while  a  friend  each  side  of  him  waves  a  large  col- 
ored handkerchief  about  his  head,  playfully  brushing  it  across 
his  face.  There  seemed  to  be  no  particular  reason  for  this 
nonsensical  performance,  and  it  was  not  much  noticed  by  the 
crowd.  "  C'est  1'habitude,"  Miloud  again  remarked. 

I  witnessed  these  scenes  and  demonstrations,  and  became, 
somewhat  to  my  astonishment,  an  invited  guest,  inasmuch  as  I 
was  pressed  to  take  a  seat  among  the  native  spectators,  and  to 
help  them  make  away  with  an  enormous  dish  of  kouskous — a 
little  to  my  embarrassment,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  for  I  was 
the  observed  of  all  observers,  being  the  only  stranger  present. 
Whether  I  had  an  appetite  or  not,  I  felt  it  incumbent  upon  me 
to  do  justice  to  the  cordial  invitation  of  the  host,  who  spoke 
French  well,  and  was  altogether  most  courteous.  My  only  way 
of  returning  his  hospitality,  besides  wishing  him  happiness  and 
prosperity,  was  to  pass  around  my  cigarette  case.  After  the 
repast  the  narghileh  was  lighted,  and  the  rose-water  in  the  en- 
graved and  gilded  glass  bottle  through  which  the  smoke  passed 
was  set  bubbling  by  the  inhalations  from  four  mouth-pieces  at 
the  end  of  as  many  long  tubes,  and  the  men  each  took  a  whiff 
or  two  at  the  friendly  smoking  establishment.  As  in  similar 
fetes  in  Algiers,  the  women  looking  down  from  the  terrace,  or 
from  the  balcony  of  the  upper  story,  when  there  is  one,  into  the 
court  below,  consider  themselves  enough  at  home  to  enjoy  the 
sight  of  what  is  going  on  without  the  constraint  of  the  veil  and 
hai'k  over  the  face,  and  they  often  partially  remove  it.  The 
men  are  not  supposed  to  turn  their  eyes  upward  at  all.  My 
curiosity,  though  natural  enough,  was  upon  several  occasions 


148  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

reprimanded,  from  which  fact  I  learned  that  at  all  public  fetes 
the  women  come  to  see,  but  to  be  seen  only  by  others  of  their 
sex. 

In  some  parts  of  Algeria  and  Tunis  a  curious  custom  is 
still  practised  at  the  moment  the  bride  enters  the  room :  the 
bridegroom,  walking  backward,  holds  a  dagger,  and  the  bride 
follows  him,  holding  the  point  of  the  blade  in  the  tips  of  her 
fingers. 

Another  custom,  not  less  strange,  consists  in  the  partial 
martyrdom  of  the  bride,  who  stands  against  a  column  in  the 
public  place,  and  under  the  gaze  of  the  people,  for  two  hours 
or  more,  and  in  an  erect  position,  her  eyes  closed,  her  arms 
close  at  her  sides,  her  feet  resting  only  on  the  narrow  base  of 
the  column.  The  bride  sometimes  collapses  and  faints  during 
the  ordeal. 

Let  us  go  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  procession  which 
preceded  the  festivities  just  described.  In  the  midst  of  the 
throng,  moving  slowly  up  the  avenue  of  great  trees,  the  bride- 
groom rode  on  a  black  horse,  under  the  brilliant  light  of  torches 
and  candles  arrayed  on  all  sides  in  pyramids ;  barrel  hoops  of 
different  sizes,  wrapped  in  tinsel-paper  and  bits  of  ribbon,  were 
used  for  the  purpose.  Several  of  these  small  monuments  were 
borne  on  poles  which  rested  on  the  shoulders  of  young  men, 
frequently  replaced  by  others  who  hustled  each  other*  for  the 
honor.  Two  friends  lead  the  caparisoned  horse  by  the  bridle, 
one  on  either  side,  while  another  continually  switches  the 
animal's  knees  to  make  him  prance  and  to  prevent  him  from 
advancing  too  rapidly — much  to  the  poor  beast's  annoyance. 
Nothing  could  be  seen  of  the  bridegroom's  person  except  the 
end  of  his  nose,  his  mustache,  and  his  feet.  He  covered  him- 
self completely  with  his  burnoose,  the  cape  drawn  over  his  head, 
with  the  tassels  hanging  over  and  hiding  his  eyes.  I  took  him 


MARRIAGE    CEREMONIES.  149 

for  a  gay  young  man  of  twenty-five  years,  but 'found  him  later  a 
man  of  forty-five,  who  had  become  tired  of  bachelorhood  and 
had  decided  to  marry,  though  late  in  life  for  an  Arab.  Musi- 
cians went  first,  making  all  the  noise  possible,  in  the  minor 
key  as  usual.  Two  professional  violinists  (celebrated?)  led 
their  orchestra;  one  of  them  played  on  a  modern  violin,  the 
other  performed  with  a  bow  on  an  instrument  something  like  a 
wuitar,  both  of  them  holding  their  violins  as  one  does  a  'cello. 

O  «-* 

Though  these  were  Jews,  the  Arabs  accepted  their  aid  as  paid 
professionals. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

THE   LEGEND   OF  AIN-EL-HOUTZ. 

OFF  in  the  plain  lies  a  village  which  takes  its  name  from 
a  spring  of  legendary  interest.  Ain-el-Houtz,  Source- 
aux-poissons,  is  a  small  pond  filled  with  fish,  but  at  the 
present  day  it  does  not  seem  as  if  it  could  have  been  a  romantic 
lake  in  days  of  yore.  A  charming  legend  has  survived  several 
centuries,  and  runs  thus : 

Djafar,  a  prince  of  noble  blood,  son  of  a  king  of  Tlem9en, 
was  one  day  hotly  pursuing  a  gazelle,  when  suddenly  he  saw 
Ai'cha,  the  beautiful  young  daughter  of  the  sheik  of  the  village, 
bathing  in  a  retired  nook  under  olive-trees  and  weeping- wil- 
lows, and  oleanders  laden  with  pink  and  white  flowers.  Ai'cha 
was  startled  by  the  gazelle,  and  in  her  fright  at  seeing  the 
prince,  who  now  gave  chase  to  her  instead,  she  fled  until  she 
came  to*  the  spring,  into  which  she  plunged  to  escape  his  grasp, 
and  immediately  the  chaste  maiden  was  changed  into  a  fish  of 
brilliant  hues  and  of  gold  and  silver  sheen. 

A  dead  village  almost  hidden  among  cacti  thriving  under  a 
scorching  sun,  Ain-el-Houtz  had  a  centre  of  attraction,  one  cafe, 
which  stood  under  the  shade  of  an  aged  oak.  The  great  out- 
stretched branches  and  dense  foliage  allowed  that  summer  ene- 
my, the  sun,  to  struggle  through  only  in  flickering  spots.  A  riv- 
ulet gurgled  under  the  cafe  and  ran  off  into  the  fields  of  wheat 
which  it  watered  through  many  a  little  canal  with  muddy  banks. 


THE  LEGEND   OF  AIN-EL-HOUTZ. 


A  travelling  acquaintance  and  I,  with 
Miloud,  took  our  luncheon  on  the  out- 
spread matting;  and  afterwards,  of  the 
inevitable  coffee  we  ordered  a  dozen 
cups,  which  were  gracefully  accepted  by 
those  around  us.  The  proprietor  of  the 
establishment  had  served  France  faithful- 
ly, had  earned  several  decorations,  which 
he  wore  sewed  on  the  left  side  of  his 
burnoose,  and  for  which  he  had  well  paid 
by  leaving  a  leg  on  the  battle-field  in 
1870.  He  had  lived  three  years  in  Paris; 
but  the  place  of  his  birth,  his  dear  and 
lonely  village  of  Ain-el-Houtz,  possessed 
attractions  stronger  than  all  others,  and 
he  came  back  with  his  crutches  and  hon- 
ors to  end  his  days  peacefully  there,  to 
be  the  hero  of  his  native  town,  where 
his  inexhaustible  soldier -tales  would  be  most  appreciated — 
"  a  big  toad  in  a  small  puddle."  But  a  cloud  came  over  our 


MUSICAL    INSTRUMENTS. 


152  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

hitherto  cordial  reception,  and  our  parting  was  cold,  for  my 
travelling  companion  of  the  day  was  a  young  Prussian  officer, 
who  was  proud  of  his  position  and  was  very  frank  in  mention- 
ing the  fact.  "  I  am  a  Prussian,  and  being  fond  of  travel,  I 
have  come  to  see  your  village."  The  old  spahi  drew  himself 
up,  and  closing  his  lips  firmly  together,  looked  at  him  for  sev- 
eral seconds  without  winking  and  with  a  perceptible  scowl, 
then  turned  his  head  away  and  rearranged  his  burnoose,  throw- 
ing it  over  the  other  shoulder.  He  naturally  suspected  me  to 
be  of  the  same  nationality,  and  I  probably  became  also  an  ob- 
ject of  his  antipathy. 

The  cafe  was  in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  and  under  the 
religious  shadow,  of  the  mosque,  a  rude  whitewashed  building 
surrounded  by  a  wall  still  more  rudely  built.  Only  one  nook, 
where  lay  the  marabout,  was  cared  for;  the  thick  dust  and 
stones  that  lay  in  the  court  and  in  the  dry  fountain  afforded 
hiding-places  for  scorpions  and  a  rendezvous  for  lizards.  The 
minaret  tapered  towards  the  top,  was  surmounted  by  a  lop-sided 
dome,  and  was  ornamented  at  each  of  the  four  corners  by  a  tri- 
angular turret.  The  muezzin,  a  patriarch  of  nearly  ninety  years, 
dragged  himself  up  the  irregular  stone  stair-way,  and  passing 
through  an  aperture  meant  for  a  door-way,  first  poking  out  his 
big  turban,  then  a  bony  hand  clutching  a  long  staff,  stood  for  a 
few  moments,  and  after  having  recovered  his  breath,  he  made 
an  attempt  in  a  husky  and  scarcely  audible  voice  to  call  the 
Selam — one  more  added  to  the  many  thousands  he  had  uttered 
from  his  few  inches  of  terrace,  and  one  more  which  might  have 
been  his  last. 

We  drove  to  another  village  farther  away  in  the  plain,  which 
has  been  of  late  years,  if  one  might  judge  by  appearances,  much 
enlarged  by  modern  French  houses,  and  has  become  a  garrison 
surrounded  by  a  square  wall.  Black  cypresses  and  the  tops  of 


THE   LEGEND    OF   AIN-EL-HOUTZ.  153 

terraces  whitewashed  in  patches,  a  church  tower,  and  a  leaning 
minaret  showed  themselves  above  the  yellowish  fortifications. 
A  straight  and  hard  dusty  road  led  through  an  avenue  of  trees 
to  the  portal.  A  great  square,  adapted  for  military  exercises, 
with  patches  of  grass  under  the  young  trees,  was  the  centre  of 
the  village,  and  lay  in  front  of  the  barracks.  Passing  through 
the  old  Arab  quarter,  where  the  different  habitations  are  sep- 
arated by  cacti  with  enormous  and  tortuous  trunks  (six  or  eight 
inches  in  diameter),  and  by  reeds  planted  in  the  ground,  we 
canre  to  the  market-place.  On  entering  the  gates,  a  gendarme 
accosted  me  to  inquire  as  to  my  credentials,  and  was  satisfied 
with  a  few  words  in  answer. 

The  market-place  was  a  jumble  of  all  sorts  of  goods  for  sale, 
rows  of  tents  with  boxes  for  counters,  where  prints,  calicoes,  sec- 
ond-hand burnooses  and  other  clothing  were  spread ;  in  short, 
an  Arab  assemblage,  including  brown  camels,  donkeys,  horses, 
their  cumbersome  saddles  and  thick  blankets  laid  aside  while 
they  whisked  their  tails  in  the  shade ;  dozens  of  others  tied 
just  above  the  hoofs  of  the  fore-legs  with  a  long  rope,  each  end 
of  which  was  firmly  picketed  in  the  ground ;  goats,  sheep,  dogs, 
snake-charmers,  jugglers — all  looked  as  if  they  had  been  shak- 
en together  in  a  basket  and  turned  out  in  a  generally  mixed- 
up  mass,  like  a  picture  that  an  artist  had  commenced  and  had 
changed  the  composition  of  twenty  times,  leaving  a  donkey's 
head,  a  camel's  leg,  a  negro's  toes,  in  places  where  they  did  not 
belong. 

A  little  removed  from  the  crowd,  half  a  dozen  swarthy  Mo- 
rocco snake-charmers  were  entertaining  a  circle  of  spectators. 
A  tall  fanatic  gesticulated  himself  into  a  violent  perspiration, 
the  veins  in  his  forehead  and  neck  swelling  more  and  more  as 
he  continued  his  harangue,  calling  upon  his  admirers  to  believe 
that  by  faith  they  could  do  as  he  did,  play  with  the  terrible  ce- 


154  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

rastes  (Arabic  &faa,  short,  horned  viper),  with  the  scorpion,  and 
could  pass  skewers  through  their  flesh  without  drawing  blood, 
besides  other  tricks  known  to  the  Aissaoui,  of  which  sect  he 
might  be  looked  upon   as  a  leader.     From  a  leather  bag  he 
would  occasionally  draw  half-way  out  a  long  black  snake,  which 
would  pull  itself  back  into  the  darkness,  to  give  the  assembly  a 
foretaste  of  the  performance  which  would  commence  as  soon  as 
his  collection  of  coin  had  reached  a  certain  amount.     He  held 
by  its  tail  all  the  while  a  cerastes  of  yellowish  dust  color,  a 
color  which  makes  this  species  the  more  dangerous,  as  it  can- 
not be  readily  distinguished  from  the  sand  of  the  desert,  where 
it  half  buries  itself.     It  was  too  sluggish  to  lift  its  head  more 
than  half-way  up  to  the  hand  that  held  it.     He  dropped  it  sev- 
eral times,  but  expertly  caught  it  again  behind  the  ears  before 
it  reached   the   bare   legs  of  the  spectators,  who  quitted  their 
places  and  enlarged  the  circle  in  less  time  than  I  can  inform 
my  reader  of  the  fact.      It  is  more  than  probable  that  the  ven- 
om   is  always   removed   by  the   charmers  from   these   reptiles, 
whose  bite  may  cause  death  within  half  an  hour. 

The  prelude  and  collection  took  more  time  than  the  real 
performance,  which  consisted  in  his  allowing  the  long  harmless 
snakes,  harmless  as  far  as  their  bite  was  concerned,  to  half 
strangle  him  and  seek  a  retreat  round  his  waist  inside  his  shirt 
We  were  told  that  holes  through  the  cheeks  and  arms  were 
allowed  to  heal  while  a  straw  or  splint  was  left  in  them,  and 
that  the  jugglers  always  put  the  skewers  through  the  same 
holes  made  for  them. 

It  is  said  of  the  scorpion,  that  if  surrounded  by  a  ring  of 
fire  through  which  it  cannot  escape,  it  will  curl  its  tail  over 
its  back  and  sting  itself  to  death  in  the  head ;  but  to  raise  its 
tail  into  the  shape  of  a  very  much  curved  bird's  claw  is  a  nat- 
ural movement  of  defence,  and  probably  not  for  the  purpose  of 


THE  LEGEND   OF  AIN-EL-HOUTZ.  155 

bringing  the  sting  at  the  end  of  it  up  to  its  head.  More  than 
likely  it  is  worry,  with  suffocation,  if  not  actual  scorching,  that 
kills  it. 

The  opera-house,  to  return  to  Tlerr^en,  is  a  large  hall 
where  stranded  companies  with  voices  not  up  to  the  mark 
still  find  admirers.  The  chef  cForchestre  constitutes  the  entire 
orchestra,  which  is  a  piano  on  which  he  performs  and  keeps 
time  by  nods  and  bows  to  the  singers. 

The  audience,  the  evening  that  we  saw  "  La  Dame  Blanche," 
was  composed  of  officers,  their  families,  and  other  French  resi- 
dents— in  the  gallery,  Arab  soldiers  and  a  miscellaneous  assem- 
blage. Criticism  being  the  prerogative  of  the  gallery,  this  one 
made  use  of  its  acknowledged  rights  ;  and  when  the  duo,  "  Je 
ne  puis  rien  comprendre,"  was  sung,  "  Nor  I,  either,  old  pump- 
kin-head," is  a  sample  of  the  observations  made  during  the  per- 
formance. The  most  provincial  and  characteristic  source  of 
amusement  was  the  gambling- table — for  very  modest  sums — of 
Petits-Chevaux,  which  was  placed  under  the  gallery  in  close 
proximity  to  the  bar.  Drinks  were  served,  and  smoking  was 
allowed  during  the  whole  entertainment,  but  everything  was 
abandoned  during  the  entractes  for  Petits-Clievaux,  of  which  the 

O 

chef  d'orckestre  was  a  constant  patron,  as  well   as  the  singers 
when  they  could  escape  from  their  duties  of  the  stage  and  dress- 


ing-room. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

RETURN   AND   FAREWELL  TO   ALGIERS. 

I  TOOK  my  departure  from  Tlerr^en  by  night  in  the  dili- 
gence. Although  in  June,  the  nights  were  cold,  and  the 
days  had  not  yet  become  very  hot.  Doomed  as  I  was  to 
find  myself  next  morning  at  Ain-Temouchent,  with  cricks  in 
my  neck  and  pains  in  my  back,  there  was  nothing  to  do  but 
grin  and  bear  it.  A  young  officer  was  on  his  way  to  Algiers 
for  a  holiday,  having  spent  a  year  at  a  garrison  a  hundred  miles 
farther  south.  It  was  the  most  desolate  place  imaginable,  ac- 
cording to  his  account — rocks,  sand,  no  rain,  nothing  to  do  after 
early  morning  exercises,  no  society ;  he  had  seen  one  lady  in  a 
year,  the  wife  of  an  officer,  who  had  remained  with  her  husband 
for  some  months.  A  dark  cloud  in  this  desert  was  watched 
with  the  greatest  interest,  and  there  was  joy  in  the  camp  when 
a  few  drops  of  rain  fell ;  officers  and  soldiers,  bareheaded,  and 
holding  out  their  tongues,  all  ran  out  with  the  hope  of  getting 
refreshed  for  a  moment  from  the  devouring  sirocco  and  to  see 

o 

the  parched  landscape  under  a  different  aspect.  These  south- 
erly military  stations  are  instituted  for  the  purpose  of  prevent- 
ing the  Bedouins  from  concentrating  their  forces  and  instigat- 
ing insurrections.  According  to  the  opinion  of  many,  however, 
these  stations  are  unnecessary. 

Algiers,  on  our  return,  had  assumed  more  of  the  true  color 
of  an  Oriental  town.     The  middle  of  June,  with  its  warm  sum- 


NEIGHBORS    ON    THE    TERRACE,  ALGIERS. 


RETURN   AND   FAREWELL   TO   ALGIERS.  159 

mer  evenings,  enticed  the  inhabitants  out  of  their  houses ;  the 
streets  were  lined  and  the  door-ways  of  the  cafes  crowded  with 
men  who  had  laid  their  burnooses  aside  or  had  left  them  at 
home,  and  who  lolled  about,  smoking,  singing,  applauding  mu- 
sicians and  dancers.  The  latter  were  boys  or  courtesans,  who 
performed  at  the  weirdly  lighted  backs  of  the  cafes.  These 
resorts  had  been  redecorated  with  crude  paintings  of  ships, 
locomotives,  lions,  birds,  for  the  great  fete  of  the  Ramadan, 
which  had  just  begun. 

A  "  celebrated  artist,"  proprietor  of  a  cafe  and  mchacha — 
hashish  smoker's  retreat — took  a  certain  interest  in  my  studies, 
but  assured  me  that  his  efforts  were  accompanied  with  far 
greater  difficulties  than  mine,  while  he  called  my  attention  to 
his  recent  productions  on  the  freshly  whitened  walls.  Every- 
thing was  arranged  for  the  delight  of  smokers — new  matting, 
small  tables  upon  which  stood  large  blue  glass  urns  containing 
water  and  goldfish,  vessels  of  various  shapes  filled  with  flowers 
and  plants,  the  columns  surrounded  by  ribbons  and  colored  tis- 
sue-paper cut  in  fanciful  designs. 

An  artist  who  painted  in  Algiers  a  picture  representing  the 
interior  of  a  m'chacha,  procured  models  who  were  habitues  of 
such  places ;  the  most  depraved  were  complete  victims  to  their 
passion  for  the  weed,  and  were  brought  to  him  on  a  litter ;  one 
of  them,  emaciated  and  idiotic  by  the  continued  practice,  died 
one  ni^ht  while  beino-  carried  home  from  the  studio.  But  to 

O  O 

see  such  scenes  requires  time  and  trouble,  for  one  may  be 
shown  into  a  m'chacha,  so  called,  and  see  nothing  but  Arabs 
enjoying  a  comfortable  pipe. 

The  festival  of  the  Ramadan  lasts  about  thirty  days,  or  be- 
tween two  moons,  a  rigid  fast  by  day  and  a  feast  by  night. 
Every  three  years  it  falls  a  month  later,  so  that  when  it  hap- 
pens in  midsummer,  when  from  sunrise  ta  sunset  the  Moham- 


i6o 


WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 


medan  must  deny  him- 
self every  pleasure,  eat- 
ing and  drinking  nothing 
and  smoking  not  at  all, 
it  is  accompanied  by  seri- 
ous inconvenience,  espe- 
cially in  the  case  of  the 
traveller  (unless  he  ob- 
tains a  dispensation)  all 
day  under  the  devouring 
sun  without  a  drop  of 
water.  It  is  not  forbid- 
den, however,  to  rinse  the 
mouth,  which  is  a  great 
relief,  and  practised  at 
other  times  than  during 
Ramadan,  as  continual 
drinking  is  impossible. 

The  Prophet,  in  insti- 
tuting this  fast,  prescribed  that  the  believer  should  wait  after 
sunset  until  he  could  "no  longer  distinguish  a  white  thread 
from  a  red  thread"  before  satisfying  his  cravings.  This  prohi- 
bition is  not  followed  to  the  letter,  for  when  the  sun  has  dis- 
appeared below  the  horizon,  the  French  gun  is  fired.  At  this 
signal,  so  impatiently  anticipated,  hundreds  of  cigarettes  in  the 
crowded  streets  seem  to  have  been  lighted  by  the  blaze  of  the 
cannon.  Other  devotees,  anxious  to  absorb  something  more 
substantial,  hold  their  bowl  of  soup,  or  sit  over  a  dish  of  kous- 
kous,  into  which  each  plunges,  at  the  welcome  sound  of  the 
cannon,  with  his  spoon,  a  piece  of  bread,  or  his  fingers. 


FATMA. 


At  the  end  of  June,  as  the  sun  was  lingering  on  the  highest 


RETURN   AND    FAREWELL   TO  ALGIERS.  161 

terraces  and  gilding  the  old  Kasbah,  we  left  Alger  la  Blanche, 
now  in  the  shadow  of  Bouzareah,  with  a  heavy  heart,  and  as  we 
swung  around  the  end  of  the  long  jetty  the  White  Dove  soon 
became  the  diamond  set  in  its  emerald  frame. 

My  reader  must  know  that  the  poetry- loving  people  to 
whom  we  have  paid  a  visit  use  flattery,  and  delight  in  high- 
flown  expressions ;  in  giving,  therefore,  the  following  transla- 
tion of  a  characteristic  letter  which  I  received  after  my  return, 
from  Fatma,  Bai'a's  mother,  I  must  not  be  accused  of  want  of 
modesty  for  not  having  omitted  certain  laudatory  phrases  in 
which  she  indulges,  very  much  to  my  credit: 

"  ALGIERS,  the  i6th  of  the  moon  of  Djeleb. 

"  To  the  very  eminent  painter,  Mr.  B :  May  Allah  accord  to  him  his 

protection  and  mercy,  as  also  to  his  madame.     Hail ! 

"  Praises  to  the  Lord !  As  soon  as  I  received  your  letter,  I  made  haset 
to  go  on  your  errand  to  Ain  Kalah ;  but  I  found  his  two  shops  and  his  house 
closed  with  strings  and  wax,  and  the  seal  of  the  cadi-bach  upon  them.  His 
wives  have  returned,  each  one  to  her  father's  home.  The  unhappy  Ain  Kalah 
is  behind  the  grating  of  the  prison,  where,  I  have  in  my  mind,  he  will  stay  a 
long  while,  if  Allah  with  his  powerful  hand  does  not  let  him  out.  He  sold  a 
farm  (haoucK)  which  did  not  belong  to  him,  by  means  of  false  witnesses  and 
through  wives  that  were  not  his  own.  I  was  told  that  I  might  speak  to  him 
in  his  prison,  with  a  permission  from  l'Oukil-el-Rey  (Juge  d' Instruction) .  I 
cannot  do  that.  Besides,  in  his  unfortunate  position,  I  do  not  believe  that  he 
is  willing  to  go  to  the  expense  of  the  silk  kerchief  in  exchange  for  the  baggage 
you  left  in  his  hands  before  leaving  Algiers. 

"  Whenever  it  will  give  you  pleasure  to  return  to  Algiers,  you  will  always 
find  in  my  poor  home  a  little  corner  for  your  pictures  and  brushes. 

"My  salutations  to  your  madame;  kiss  for  me  Bai'a  and  Zouhr,  your  little 
children.  May  Allah  protect  them  with  his  benedictions,  and  make  them  grow 
in  strength  and  wisdom  under  the  shadow  of  your  eminent  virtues. 

"Salutations  and  health.  FATMA." 

IO 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

INTO   KABYLIA. 

Er  the  reader  now  turn  back  the  pages  of  fifteen  years 
and  follow  me  in  journeys  through  other  scenes,  by  dili- 
•  gence,  several  hundred  miles  from  Algiers.  At  the 

present  time  some  of  these  trips  can  be  made  by  rail,  but  I 
prefer  my  former  experience,  now  that  the  hardships  are  over; 
and  they  were  hardships,  for  they  almost  cost  me  my  life. 
For  that  very  reason,  however,  my  impressions  have  remained 
stronger  than  they  would  have  done  had  I  gone  over  the  same 
ground  more  rapidly  and  comfortably. 

We  had  spent  a  delightful  winter,  and  had  been  fortunate 
enough  to  occupy  as  a  studio  a  whole  villa  at  Mustapha,  which, 
with  its  extensive  grounds  and  gardens,  had  been  placed  at  our 
entire  disposal.  At  the  end  of  our  stay,  however,  it  passed  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  French  owner  into  those  of  a  wealthy  young 
Arab,  who  came,  accompanied  by  two  of  his  six  young  wives,  to 
visit  the  premises,  evidently  with  the  desire  to  consult  and  please 
the  fancy  of  his  favorite  kauris  before  making  the  purchase. 

At  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  April  5,  1873,  I  took  my 
place  on  the  upper  bench  of  the  diligence  behind  and  above  the 
driver.  My  companion,  an  Englishman,  who  was  an  old  trav- 
eller in  India,  sat  beside  me.  In  the  plain  of  the  Metidja  the 
mist  lay  in  long  white  bands  away  over  to  the  foot  of  the  blue 
hills  of  the  Atlas,  and  the  sun,  rising  from  a  pale  lemon-yellow 


INTO    KABYLIA. 


16 


sky,  dispersed  the  fleecy  veil,  and  revealed  long  dusty  roads, 
crowded  at  times  with  Arabs,  camels,  and  donkeys — they  all 
seemed  of  one  family  and  of  one  kind,  in  the  uniform  shroud 
of  dust — going  to  market. 

The  horrors  of  the  insurrection  of   1871  were  brought  viv- 
idly before  the  imagination  when  the  driver,  who  had  escaped 


LITTLE    GARI 


many  dangers  in  his  capacity  of  mail -carrier,  pointed  to  the 
desolate  and  charred  ruins  of  houses  and  blackened  trees  and 
rocks.  He  gave  long  and  detailed  accounts  of  the  treachery 
of  the  Arabs  when  they  availed  themselves  of  L'Ann'ee  terrible 


1 64  WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 

to  show  their  hostility  to  the  conquerors  of  their  country,  who 
had  withdrawn  their  forces  for  the  struggle  with  Germany. 
The  perfidy  and  cruelty  of  the  natives  remind  one  forcibly  of 
what  the  Puritans  and  the  early  settlers  westward-bound  in 
the  United  States  had  to  endure  in  their  battles  for  territory 
against  the  treacherous  Indians.  Our  driver  told  his  reminis- 
cences with  as  much  zest  as  if  the  war  and  Commune  had 
just  finished,  whereas  we  were  in  '73,  and  he  must  have  nar- 
rated the  same  terrible  incidents  to  fresh  relays  of  travellers 
some  hundreds  of  times. 

The  magnificent  peaks  of  the  Djurdjura,  clothed  in  their 
heavy  mantle  of  snow  during  nine  months  of  the  year,  were 
always  "so  near  and  yet  so  far;"  a  splendid  morsel  of  Switzer- 
land transplanted  to  the  borders  of  the  Sahara,  the  melting 
snows  to  quench  the  thirst  of  the  lion,  the  panther,  and  wild- 
cat, and  finally  to  be  swallowed  up  in  sandy  plains  below,  and 
to  disappear  among  pebbles  and  the  roots  of  the  oleander  in 
the  lowest  channels  of  the  river-beds.  As  we  passed  through 
the  gorge  of  Palaestro  everything  was  shut  out  from  our  sight 
save  the  tempestuous  river  Isser  rushing  through,  and  the  preci- 
pice of  grayish-white  rock  on  either  side.  The  gorge  had  once 
been,  apparently,  the  bottomless  pit  of  a  glacier,  which  ages  ago 
had  polished  and  marked  the  massive  walls  of  stone  in  long 
streaks.  Echoes  of  our  ponderous  vehicle,  of  the  snorting  of 
the  horses  and  of  the  clicking  of  their  feet  and  harness,  of  the 
cracking  whip,  and  of  the  leaping  waters,  thundered  about  us 
in  and  out  of  tunnels  until  we  reached  the  genial  sunlight  again, 
and  the  cornfields  and  flowers,  of  which  we  had  had  brilliant 
glimpses,  gracefully  nodding  to  us  from  the  heights  above.  I 
am  writing  these  souvenirs  very  much  in  the  manner  that  the 
corn  and  flowers  are  bent  by  the  breezes,  jotting  down  my 
impressions  as  I  receive  them,  and  recalling  incidents  and 


INTO    KABYLIA.  165 

places  along  the  road  without  binding  them  together  more 
closely  than  memory  has  connected  them.  Whether  before  or 
after  Palaestro  I  do  not  remember,  we  branched  off  from  the 
high-road  to  Constantine,  for  which  city  we  were  bound,  and 
ascended  gradually  by  another  route  to  Fort  Napoleon,  now 
Fort  National.  By  this  time  we  had  reached  Kabylia,  the  most 
thickly  populated  part  of  all  Algeria.  The  grandeur  of  the 
scenery  and  its  immense  proportions  are  not  equalled  elsewhere 
in  the  country.  The  Fort,  a  white  speck  high  up  on  the  mount- 
ain-side, and  the  whitewashed  minarets  of  the  mosques,  shone 
in  the  clear  atmosphere  of  three  thousand  feet  above  the  sea, 
against  the  great  masses  of  olive-trees  in  the  dense,  broad  shad- 
ows of  the  precipitous  rock  looming  above  and  capped  with 
glistening  snow.  Oh !  for  an  alpenstock,  and  a  slide  of  a  thou- 
sand feet,  and  a  roll  in  the  pure  snow  to  clear  away  the  dust 
and  stickiness,  and  to  unrust  one's  joints  and  brace  the  small- 
of-the-back ! 

Tamgout  Lalla  Khadidja,  the  peak  of  the  Lady  Khadidja, 
five  thousand  feet  still  higher  than  the  Fort,  is  the  highest  of 
the  range,  and  quite  inaccessible  when  covered  with  snow,  we 
were  told,  but  can  be  crossed  in  summer  without  much  diffi- 
culty even  by  laden  mules.  I  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of 
preserving  a  souvenir  of  these  magnificent  peaks,  and  still  more 
of  making  a  useful  study;  and  the  next  day  I  had  all  my 
sketching  apparatus  ready,  and  sat  on  the  mountain-side  oppo- 
site my  subject  and  in  the  sun,  for  the  chilly  breezes  in  the 
shade  were  uncomfortably  cold.  But  there  I  found  my  enemy. 
At  the  end  of  an  hour  such  a  stupor  came  over  me  that  I  fell 
asleep  then  and  there,  feeling  sure  that  Nature  must  have  her 
own  way  in  demanding  more  rest  after  the  trying  journey ;  and 
I  would  not  believe  that  there  was  any  danger  of  sunstroke  at 
that  elevation,  but  I  made  a  mistake,  and  almost  a  fatal  one. 
10* 


1 66  WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 

In  about  twenty  minutes  I  experienced  such  horrible  sensations 
of  being  riveted  to  the  earth  by  a  rusty  iron  bar  through  my 
hips  that  I  began  to  be  frightened,  and  gathered  myself  to- 
gether as  best  I  could,  but  it  was  hard  work,  and  after  a  su- 
perhuman effort  I  dragged  myself  back  to  the  hotel,  where  I 
became  insensible  for  a  time.  Fever  had  a  good  hold  upon  me, 
and  I  experienced  the  usual  symptoms — the  sensation  of  hav- 
ing been  beaten  with  a  cudgel  on  the  nape  of  the  neck.  My 
good  friend,  who  had  seen  many  similar  instances  in  India,  and 
had  been  carried,  insensible  from  sunstroke,  on  board  a  steamer 
bound  for  England,  ministered  to  me  with  much  care  and  de- 
votion. Fortunately,  a  lady  traveller  had  a  small  bottle  of  Eau 
sedative,  which  gave  me  great  relief  while  waiting  for  a  doctor. 
Our  inn,  not  desirable  at  best,  became  a  most  doleful  abode 
under  the  circumstances.  There  was  a  billiard-table,  over  which 
the  uneven  and  chipped  balls  rumbled  like  a  distant  thunder- 
storm, or  at  any  rate  as  good  an  imitation  of  a  thunder-storm 
as  that  rendered  in  a  provincial  theatre  behind  the  scenes.  Trie 
table  was  a  paying  institution,  however,  for  it  was  patronized  all 
day  long.  I  should  be  afraid  to  say  how  near  the  balls  came  to 

each  other  at  times. 

» 

We  were  surrounded  by  the  immense  walls  of  the  fortifica- 
tions, which  were  still  being  repaired  by  the  very  hands  that  at- 
tempted to  destroy  them  during  the  insurrection.  They  were 
built  by  the  Turks  as  a  stronghold  (probably  by  the  Romans  orig- 
inally). The  Roman  paved  paths  in  these  regions  are  steep  and 
direct;  the  modern  French  roads  cross  them  frequently  in  more 
gradual  ascent  (From  the  Fort  to  Tizi-Ouzou,  a  distance  of 
seventeen  miles,  a  splendid  macadamized  highway  was  complet- 
ed in  seventeen  days  by  thirty  thousand  soldiers.)  The  villages 
are  built  on  the  crests  of  the  hills,  which  run  out  in  promon- 
tories from  the  greater  elevations,  and  are  sometimes  only  wide 


INTO   KABYLIA.  167 

enough  to  allow  of  two  rows  of  houses  with  a  single  street  be- 
tween them.  The  positions  are  well  chosen  for  defence.  In 
time  of  war,  shelter  and  protection  are  sought  in  the  mosques, 
not  only  because  there  people  are  under  the  cloak  of  the  Proph- 
et, but  also  because  the  holy  sanctuary  is  the  largest  building 
in  the  place  and  is  used  as  a  citadel. 

The  Kabyles  are  very  frugal  and  industrious,  but  the  filth 
of  their  habitations  can  compare  triumphantly  with  that  of 
all  others  most  refined  in  uncleanliness  in  our  universe.  The 
houses  are  built  of  mud  and  stones,  with  red-tiled  roofs,  nearly 
flat,  and  always  black  at  one  corner,  for  trouble  is  never  taken 
to  build  a  chimney ;  the  smoke  escapes  through  a  hole  and 
under  the  eaves.  Here  again,  as  in  Algiers  (in  which  latter  city 
there  is  no  excuse),  the  doors  are  several  inches  too  low,  and 
any  one  who  has  seen  the  age  of  fourteen  may  never  hope  to 
enter  in  an  upright  position.  There  is  only  one  door,  and  there 
are  no  windows.  The  human  portion  of  the  family  occupies 
one  end  of  the  hut,  while  the  animal  members  of  the  same — 
cows,  pigs,  donkeys — are  walled  off  at  the  other  end.  An  open 
space  above  allows  ample  exchange  of  foul  and  pungent  odors 
and  the  escape  of  the  stinging  and  stifling  smoke.  Not  only 
are  all  these  living  creatures  shut  up  in  this  stench,  but  the  ac- 
cumulation of  foulness  around  the  houses,  from  generation  to 
generation,  is  still  worse.  The  nomadic  tribes  at  least  air  their 
tents  and  change  their  spot  several  times  a  year. 

Remarkable  stories  are  told  of  the  temerity  and  dexterity  of 
Arab  thieves,  who  can  creep  near  houses  and  tents  without  awak- 
ening the  slumbering  inhabitants  or  the  vigilant  and  ferocious 
dog.  It  is  said  that  the  Kabyles  are  very  jealous  of  their  wives, 
and,  moreover,  that  their  fears  on  that  score  do  not  lack  founda- 
tion. In  the  first  place,  the  women  do  not  wear  veils,  and  their 
mode  of  living  must  allow  them  considerable  freedom.  They 


i68 


WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 


are  always  going  somewhere — to  the  fountain  for  water,  or  to 
wash  their  clothes  at  the  trough  near  by,  or  to  the  fields  to 
work — and  their  admirers,  hidden  among  the  branches  of  a  thick 
olive-tree  or  behind  the  broad-leaved  cactus,  whisper  their  love 
as  well  as  their  threats  to  the  fair  ones  as  they  pass  by. 


AT   THE    FOUNTAIN   OF    BIRKADEM,  BETWEEN    ALGIERS    AND    BLIDAH. 

The  Djamaa,  a  large  square  building  furnished  with  stone 
benches,  is  an  institution  which  corresponds  with  our  clubs.  The 
Arabs  congregate  and  lounge  about  there  to  discuss  all  sorts 
of  topics — politics,  scandals,  and  general  local  news. 

The  distance  from  the  Fort  to  a  most  picturesque  village 
proved  very  deceptive,  as  in  Switzerland,  owing  to  the  grand 


INTO    KABYLIA.  169 

proportion  of  the  landscape  before  us.  Nearly  an  hour  was 
passed  in  accomplishing  what  we  thought  would  take  twenty 
minutes.  A  tortuous  and  rugged  path  led  along  the  backbone 
of  the  hill,  rocky  and  overgrown  with  cacti  and  brier  at  the  top 
and  alongside  the  steeper  paths  that  led  down  to  the  bottom  of 
the  ravines  on  either  hand;  and  every  available  nook  and  corner 
on  its  slopes  was  cultivated  to  the  utmost,  as  throughout  all 
Kabylia. 

The  yellow  wheat  growing  in  irregular  patches  among  the 
malachite  cacti,  enlivened  with  red  and  cadmium-yellow  fruit, 
in  sunlight  and  in  shadow  of  the  small-leafed  olive,  so  sensitive 
to  the  slightest  breeze,  showing  its  dark  upper  and  its  paler 
green  sides,  the  great  trunk  hundreds  of  years  old,  its  tortuous 
roots  worn  smooth  by  cattle  lying  against  them,  by  children 
climbing  over  them,  or  by  the  laborer  resting  in  the  heat  of  the 
day ;  then  the  more  distant  foliage,  dull  dark-green  masses, 
through  which  shot  broad  sheets  of  the  sun's  rays,  and  back  of 
all  the  blue  rocks  and  snow  towering  above — all  formed  a  glo- 
rious picture,  of  the  scenic  kind,  however,  which  had  a  character 
of  its  own  distinct  from  that  of  landscapes  of  other  countries. 
An  eagle  threw  his  shadow  across  the  red-tiled  roofs  and  wheat- 
fields  as  he  soared  above  our  heads,  the  sun  glowing  through 
his  wings  out-stretched  and  motionless.  Swallows,  darting  to 
their  nests  through  the  doors  of  the  houses  and  mosque,  twit- 
tered in  lively  concert,  and  took  counsel  as  to  whether  they 
should  soon  return  to  their  homes  in  France  or  remain  till  the 
end  of  May.  I  overheard  one  of  them  say,  "AH  ben  Baba  has 
attached  this  red  thread  to  my  leg,  and  I  am  bound  to  return 
next  winter,  to  prove  that  I  am  faithful  to  my  little  nest  just 
above  his  door,  and  where  I  can  look  into  his  stable ;  and  I  can 
always  get  out,  if  the  door  is  shut,  through  a  little  hole  which  I 
know  under  the  cave  yonder  near  the  corner,  where  the  kettle 


I  70  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

hangs  over  the  blackened  stones  and  heap  of  gray  ashes.  I  have 
often  heard  it  said  there's  no  place  like  home;  and  notwith- 
standing my  fright  at  being  captured,  and  having  this  tiny 
thread  and  red  flannel  tied  to  my  leg,  to  distinguish  me  from 
my  black-and-white  brethren  whom  I  so  much  resemble,  I  shall 
prove,  as  others  have  done  before  me,  that  I  believe  in  the  say- 
ing and  am  of  the  same  opinion." 

The  origin  of  the  term  Zouave  comes  from  this  part  of  the 
country,  and  the  reader  may  be  interested  in  its  derivation. 
The  great  tribe  of  Zouaoua  is  the  most  warlike  in  Kabylia,  and 
occupies  a  large  tract  of  mountainous  country  not  far  from  that 
portion  which  we  visited.  My  regrettable  accident  prevented 
us  from  making  the  interesting  excursion  into  their  district, 
although  one  day  would  have  sufficed.  The  native  militia  in 
the  service  of  Algiers,  Tunis,  and  Tripoli  were  called  Zouaoua, 
as  at  first  none  but  members  of  this  warlike  tribe  of  Kabyles 
were  enrolled.  Subsequently  their  ranks  were  opened  to  all 
Kabyles  and  Arabs  indiscriminately,  and  the  French  adopted  a 
corrupted  form  of  the  word  Zouaoua  (Zouave)  for  their  cele- 
brated African  regiments. 

In  regard  to  landscapes  on  a  large  scale,  may  I  be  allowed 
to  say  a  few  words  outside  of  our  direct  subject  ?  I  am  not  the 
only  artist  who  has  been  asked  why  a  scene  that  is  magnificent 
in  nature  is  not  the  finest  subject  for  a  picture.  This  ques- 
tion often  arises,  especially  in  Switzerland.  But  it  would  require 
too  much  space  here  to  discuss  the  subject  satisfactorily,  for  it 
is  not  an  easy  one  to  exhaust  in  a  few  lines.  The  result  of 
such  a  discussion  generally  brings  the  inevitable  observation 
from  those  not  convinced,  "Well,  I  dare  say  you  are  right,  but 
I  cannot  see  why  this  scene  or  that  panorama  would  not  be 
superb  on  canvas." 


INTO    KABYLIA.  171 

In  the  first  place,  there's  the  difficulty  of  choosing  the  sub- 
ject. The  many  planes  of  Swiss  landscape  —  foreground,  mid- 
dle-distance, distance,  and  I  may  say  extra-distance  in  the  form 
of  a  snow-covered  range,  are  separated  by  valleys  of  ten,  twenty, 
forty  miles,  and  do  not  harmonize  with  each  other,  but  remain 
in  separate  masses,  rising  one  above  the  other,  like  scenery  on 
the  stage.  And  then  we  come  to  the  everlasting  question  of 
simplicity.  There's  too  much  in  a  grand  landscape  unless  there 
be  a  unity  of  tone,  of  light  and  shadow  and  line,  which  brings 
the  wrhole  together  as  a  whole,  just  as  an  immense  crowd  can  be 
treated  as  a  mass,  or  one  person,  so  to  speak,  subservient  to  the 
principal  figure  or  few  figures.  Is  there  anything  more  hideous 
than  a  photographic  group  of  a  large  number  of  people  where 
all  are  prominent  and  obtrusive,  especially  when  intended  for 
portraits,  one  range  above  another?  And  yet  we  have  reason 
to  believe  that  groups  of  friends  will  always  be  in  favor,  with 
painted  backgrounds  and  stippled  faces,  and  that  panoramic 
views  will  continue  to  share  the  same  appreciation  of  many. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

TO    AND    FROM    TUNIS. 

ON  returning  to  Tizi-Ouzou — for  I  believe  that  was  our 
branching-off  place,  to  which  we  had  to  retrace  our 
steps  of  fifty-four  miles,  in  order  to  continue  our  journey 
— the  important  question  arose  as  to  whether  to  go  on  to  Con- 
stantine,  or  return  the  much  shorter  distance,  sixty-five  miles, 
to  Algiers ;  the  longer  trip  won  the  toss.  All  I  remember  of 
the  Fortes  de  Fer  is  that  towards  evening  we  were  transferred 
from  the  large  diligence  to  a  small  four-wheeler  with  only  four 
places  in  the  interior  and  one  by  the  side  of  the  driver.  The 
driver  was  a  sad  specimen  of  humanity,  who  began  the  journey 
tipsy  and  continued  in  that  state.  My  friend  and  I  were  sole 
possessors  of  the  interior  of  the  light,  frail  vehicle.  It  was 
furnished  with  flapping  curtains  of  black  oil -cloth,  which  we 
buckled  down  at  night.  Our  Automedon,  after  numerous  vile 
cocktails  at  every  relay  on  the  road,  treating  his  brethren  and 
being  treated,  should  not  have  been  trusted  with  four  young 
mules  to  drive  on  newly-made  roads  and  on  the  edges  of  preci- 
pices; but  throughout  Algeria  these  reckless  drivers  have  a 
custom  of  stopping  to  drink,  at  dead  of  night,  while  the  pas- 
sengers are  supposed  to  be  asleep;  they  then  make  up  lost 
time  by  furious  spurts,  during  which  those  intrusted  to  their 
tender  care  are  awakened  and  justly  grumble.  What  is  to 
be  done?  Inspectors  cannot  always  watch  them. 


TO    AND    FROM   TUNIS.  173 

At  the  end  of  a  day  already  tedious  enough  we  were  near- 
ing  the  Fortes  de  Fer,  along  a  road  which  had  been  covered 
with  a  thick  layer  of  newly- broken  stones.  The  two  unruly 
mules  ahead  broke  loose  from  their  traces,  and  findino-  nothing 

<->  O 

to  drag  except  the  driver,  who  braced  himself  with  his  heels 
against  the  dash-board,  made  their  own  time  for  the  remaining 
half-mile  which  lay  between  us  and  our  dinner  at  the  foot  of 
the  hill.  Here  we  stopped  as  short  a  length  of  time  as  pos- 
sible, and  prepared  for  the  night's  journey  over  many  miles  of 
rough  ground,  through  muddy  holes,  deep  ruts,  and  sand  and 
stones.  There  was  no  definite  road,  and  the  many  vehicles 
which  had  passed  over  the  broad  plain  had  left  their  wheel- 
marks  wherever  they  best  avoided  the  little  hillocks  and  tufts 
of  grass.  There  were  glistening  streaks,  a  good  span  wide, 
where  on  a  steep  slope  the  big  flat  slab  of  iron,  fastened  by  a 
chain  under  the  heavy  transport  wagons  in  front  of  the  hind- 
wheels,  to  serve  as  a  brake,  had  flattened  and  polished  the 
earth.  As  our  poor  bones  rattled  along  the  route  the  Arabs' 
dogs  in  the  neighboring  douars  howled  mournfully,  and  when 
within  reasonable  distance  they  made  furious  dashes  at  us,  then, 
tired  of  the  charge,  whirled  round  and  returned  to  sleep  until 
daylight  Between  two  and  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when 
the  fumes  of  the  cocktails  had  forsaken  his  troubled  brain,  our 
driver  pointed  to  a  great  square  rock  jutting  out  from  the  hills 
— which  stood  with  jagged  edges,  a  deep  blue-gray  mass  in 
sharp  silhouette  against  the  first  streaks  of  dawn— as  the  fa- 
vorite spot,  a  kind  of  observatory,  of  a  wily  old  lion  who  was 
to  be  seen  frequently  at  this  hour,  but  whose  movements  were 
either  somewhat  difficult  to  follow,  or  else  enterprise  in  hunt- 
ing him  was  lacking. 

,  We  did  not  travel  continuously,  but  waited  over  at  different 
places.     The  following  night  we  passed  in  a  new  French  settle- 


174  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

ment— square  one-story  buildings,  with  enclosures  and  shelter 
for  camels,  horses,  and  donkeys,  all  mixed  up  with  an  apparent- 
ly inextricable  jumble  of  harness,  trapping,  saddles,  and  mer- 
chandise. The  sleepjng-room  allotted  to  us  was  between  two 
other  rooms,  with  a  single  way  of  communication,  unless  one 
chose  to  enter  from  the  street  or  stable  through  the  windows ; 
so  that  the  rooms  might  about  as  well  have  been  all  in  one. 
Half  a  dozen  women  of  a  nomad  tribe  accommodated  them- 
selves in  the  apartment  beyond  us.  One  of  them,  in  passing 
through  our  room,  nodded  and  mumbled  a  few  words  in  Arabic, 
interlarded  with  "  Bon,  mossou  fait  rien,  bon  soir."  As  I  had 
not  enjoyed  more  than  an  hour's  uninterrupted  sleep  for  sev- 
eral nights,  I  returned  the  salute  in  a  worse  mood  when  they 
rattled  through  the  creaking  doors  at  five  o'clock  the  next 
morning.  There  still  remained  a  wainscoting  of  dust  on  their 
heavy  woollen  drapery,  which  trailed  on  the  ground,  ragged 
and  gray  at  the  lower  edge,  the  dust  allowing  the  dark  blue, 
the  original  color  of  the  stuff,  to  appear  by  gradations  at  the 
knees.  Their  shins  and  feet  seemed  as  if  they  belonged  to 
creatures  of  the  rhinoceros  tribe,  and  they  wore  heavy  jingling 
jewellery  and  immense  head-gear,  which  was  too  complicated  to 
remove  for  the  sake  of  a  night's  rest. 

Our  next  station  of  interest  was  Setif,  where  we  were 
obliged  to  stay  a  day  and  night.  A  doctor  attended  me,  and 
ordered  a  hot  bath,  and  towels  wet  with  cold  water  wrapped 
round  my 'head.  His  method  of  treatment  may  have  saved 
many,  but  I  thought  that  this  bath  was  to  be  my  last;  and, 
notwithstanding  the  prescription,  I  soon  jumped  out,  for  my 
blood  was  boiling,  and  went  thumping  to  my  head  as  if  forced 
by  a  steam-pump. 

My  remembrance  of  Setif,  therefore,  is  not  very  vivid,  bjat 
the  interest  in  the  place  can  be  exhausted  in  a  few  hours  at 


TO   AND    FROM   TUNIS. 


175 


most  when  one  has  grasped  the  idea,  which  it  does  not  take 
long  to  do,  of  walking  over  the  site  of  one  of  the  most  exten- 
sive cities  of  the  Romans  in  this  section  of  country.  Traces 
remained  of  their  fortifications,  which  were  made  use  of  in  the 
construction  of  large  modern  walls ;  for  it  is  a  strong  military 
station  at  present,  and  quite  modern  French.  Mournful  avenues 
of  large  trees  sheltering  stone  benches,  cafes  frequented  by 
officers,  and  a  few  broken  Roman  statues,  capitals,  and  col- 
umns, seemed  to  be  all  the  objects  of  interest  offered  to  the 
traveller,  so  that  we  were  glad  to  leave  this  flat  (morally  and 
topographically)  country  for  Constantine,  which  was  indeed 
worth  seeing.  But  as  the  reader  is  to  follow  us  on  our  trip 
from  that  city  to  Biskra,  we  will  continue  to  Tunis  and  Bona 
in  our  narrative. 

On  a  plain  at  the  end  of  a  bay,  and  almost  level  with  the  sea, 
Tunis  lies,  flattened  out  in  low  buildings,  for  the  most  part,  of 
one  story ;  steamers  stop  at  the  entrance  of  the  Behira,  a  very 
shallow  bay,  only  a  few  feet  deep,  and  passengers  are  transferred 
to  small  boats.  To  the  left,  an  aqueduct  of  reddish  stone,  remind- 
ing one  somewhat  of  the  Campagna,  runs  back  towards  the  blue 
hills ;  to  the  right,  a  promontory  which  requires  the  liveliest  im- 
agination to  accept  as  the  site  of  Carthage.  The  souvenirs  of 
all  the  Turners,  Claude  Lorraines,  and  Salvator  Rosas  could  not 
help  us  out  in  reconstructing  the  great  city.  Our  curiosity,  as 
is  the  case  with  every  stranger  after  securing  his  room  at  the 
hotel,  first  led  us  to  visit  Carthage,  several  miles  by  carriage, 
through  sparse  olive-trees,  planted  with  regularity,  which  were 
in  charming  contrast  to  the  red  earth  and  deep  blue  sea.  We 
passed  several  porphyry  columns  which  had  lain  at  the  water's 
edge  for  how  long  it  is  difficult  to  say.  In  a  museum  at  the 
top  of  the  hill  a  few  disappointing  fragments  have  been  col- 
lected. The  really  interesting  ruins  were  several  cisterns,  still 


176  WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 

in  a  remarkable  state  of  preservation  and  of  immense  dimen- 
sions, vaulted  and  divided  into  compartments ;  the  cement  of 
the  walls  was  still  smooth,  but  the  cisterns  no  longer  retain  the 
rain-water  which  they  were  built  to  receive.  It  is  supposed 
that  the  streets  and  ground  around  them  had  been  paved  with 
marble,  in  order  to  conduct  into  them  all  the  rain  that  fell. 
Now  Arabs  and  their  flocks  take  up  their  residence  there. 

As  might  be  well  supposed,  Tunis,  with  its  palace  of  the  Bey 
within  the  city,  and  the  summer  palace  at  some  distance,  is  al- 
most entirely  constructed  with  white  marble  columns  and  slabs 
and  stone  blocks  taken  from  the  palace  of  Dido  and  from  the 
Forum,  luxurious  baths  and  grand  temples  of  mighty  Car- 
thage. If  the  site  was  so  well  chosen  by  her  founders,  and  the 
famous  city  had  flourished  for  so  many  hundreds  of  years,  how 
astonishing  it  seems  that  she  should  so  entirely  disappear,  and 
that  her  building  material  should  be  transported  elsewhere!  Af- 
ter a  glimpse  of  the  little  chapel  erected  to  the  memory  of  St. 
Louis,  who  died  in  1270,  on  his  return  from  the  Crusades,  we 
drove  back  and  lounged  round  the  bazaars,  seeking  what  we 
might  devour  in  the  way  of  stuffs  and  costumes  for  the  studio. 
There  is  an  indescribable  charm  in  these  Eastern  bazaars :  the 
odors  of  musk  (for  those  who  like  it),  of  tobacco,  orange-blos- 
soms, ottar  of  roses — the  oily  extract  sold  in  long  phials  of  thick 
glass  with  gold  designs  upon  them — and  other  perfumes  difficult 
for  the  nose  to  analyze  in  their  conflict  with  each  other.  I  was 
particularly  struck  with  the  exceedingly  delicate  tones  and  shades 
of  the  silks  and  velvets  of  the  costumes  and  draperies  in  the 
shops  as  well  as  those  worn  by  the  people,  even  in  their  woollen 
and  cloth  burnooses  and  jackets.  Nothing  so  perfect  of  the 
kind  is  to  be  found  elsewhere,  not  even  in  the  delicate  colors  in 
vogue  on  our  continents.  The  transparency,  too,  of  their  fab- 
rics is  incredible ;  cobweb  is  the  only  texture  to  which  it  can 


TO    AND    FROM    TUNIS. 


J77 


JEWISH    SILVER  SMITH,  ALGIERS. 

be  compared.  Aside  from  the  charm  for  the  eye  and  for  the 
nasal  organs,  so  frequently  offended  in  other  quarters,  there 
is  in  these  covered  bazaars  a  delicious  repose  from  the  noise, 
dust,  and  glare  outside.  The  Jewish  tailors,  who  have  a 
charmingly  picturesque  row  of  workshops  to  themselves,  like 
those  who  carry  on  trades  of  every  description,  arrange  them- 
selves in  direct  competition  one  against  the  other.  This  is 
1 1 


I  78  WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 

most  convenient  for  the  buyer,  who  can  choose  by  compari- 
son and  without  wasting  his  time  and  patience  in  going  all 
over  the  town.  We  made  some  good  bargains  with  the  auc- 
tioneers, who  went  backward  and  forward  from  one  end  to  the 
other  of  the  busy  corners  and  narrow  covered  streets  crying 
their  last  bids.  The  most  gratifying  part  of  the  purchase  was 
the  use  of  our  Arabic  vocabulary,  the  financial  department  of 
which  was  mostly  confined  to  the  unmistakable  digits.  The 
costume  of  the  men  differs  but  little  from  that  usual  in  Al- 
giers. The  Jews  are  prohibited  from  wearing  the  colors  of  the 
Prophet — green  and  white.  The  former  is  reserved  for  the 
scherifs,  or  descendants  of  Mohammed,  while  the  latter  is  ap- 
propriated to  the  use  of  the  simple  Mussulmans.  The  Jews, 
therefore,  restrict  their  head-dress  to  the  red  tarboosh,  with  blue 
tassel  wound  round  with  black,  or  some  other  than  the  sacred 
colors.  The  most  striking  departure  from  other  costumes  de- 
scribed in  this  work,  and  one  which  is  noticed  and  remembered 
By  every  visitor  to  Tunis,  is  the  peculiar  cut  of  the  dresses  of 
the  Jewesses,  which  remains  the  same,  no  matter  what  exquisite 
shade  of  silk  is  employed,  or  what  ingenuity  of  design  in  the 
intricate  embroidery,  or  what  variety  of  stripes  in  the  knitted 
and  lower  part  of  the  pantaloons.  From  the  feet  up  above  the 
knees  these  garments  are  quite  tight,  as  the  knitted  portion  is 
of  course  elastic.  The  wearers  walk  in  a  somewhat  constrained 
manner,  toes  turned  in,  and  rather  flat-footed,  like  the  Arab 
women.  I  think,  too,  that  by  this  time,  from  frequent  inter- 
course with  European  ladies  who  visit  them,  they  seem  con- 
scious of  being  perplexed  as  to  how  to  answer  the  question, 
"  Why  do  you  wear  those  things  ?"  Not  even  with  the  corpu- 
lent is  any  of  the  grace  of  this  attire  lost.  Corpulence,  in- 
deed, is  considered  a  requisite  for  beauty,  and  is  naturally  cul- 
tivated, in  emulation  of  certain  central  African  tribes,  among 


TO   AND   FROM   TUNIS. 


179 


whom  feminine  perfection  consists  in  a  state  of  obesity  which 
necessitates  creeping  on  all  fours.  The  hai'k,  embroidered 
jacket,  gauze  chemises  with  gold  trimmings,  and  jewellery  com- 
pensate in  a  measure  for  the  poor  Jewesses'  shortcomings. 

The  Arab  women  here  wear  a  long  black  veil,  tied  across 
the  nose  and  just  under  the  eyes,  which,  like  the  Cairo  veil, 
gives  a  funereal  appearance.  This  veil  differs  from  that  worn 
by  Algerian  women,  which  is  white,  and  in  the  form  of  a  hand- 
kerchief folded  cornervvise. 

The  Bardo,  summer  residence  of  the  Bey,  resembling  a  fort 
rather  than  a  palace,  with  its  austere  moat  and  walls  flanked 
by  towers  and  bastions,  is  gorgeous  in  the  interior,  in  the  hall 
of  justice  and  state  saloon,  with  white  marble,  pictures,  gilding, 
satin  and  brocade,  hangings  and  furniture.  The  state  saloon 
has  high  windows,  between  which  are  life-size  portraits.  The 
decorations  are  not  so  shocking  to  good  taste  as  those  of  so 
many  other  palaces  inhabited  by  Eastern  dignitaries.  The  city 
residence,  for  instance,  and  similar  palaces  in  Egypt  and  Mo- 
rocco, are  examples  of  that  horrible  mixture  of  modern  furni- 
ture— red  damask  chairs,  blue  hangings,  white  and  washed-out 
Aubusson  carpets,  inlaid  tables,  and  other  atrocities — with  ob- 
jects purely  Oriental,  within  constructions  exquisitely  designed, 
and  ornamented  with  tiles  and  arabesques.  After  leaving  the 
hall  of  justice,  "where,"  in  the  words  of  Sir  L.  Playfair,  "peri- 
odically his  Highness  in  person  administers  the  patriarchal  but 
substantially  equitable  justice  which  seems  far  better  suited  to 
semi-civilized  people  than  the  more  elaborate  jurisprudence  of 
Europe,"  we  paid  a  long  visit  to  the  janitor,  executioner,  and 
great  Mogul,  who  received  us  cordially  in  his  neat  little  lodge 
at  the  well-guarded  entrance.  He  wore  on  his  head  an  immense 
red  tarboosh,  or  fez,  much  broader  at  the  top  than,  and  of  a 
different  shape  from,  the  one  with  which  the  reader  is  proba- 


l8o  WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 

bly  familiar.  Throwing  back  his  large  sleeves,  he  took  down 
from  the  wall,  in  a  very  slow  and  deliberate  way,  several  choice 
cimeters,  his  cherished  companions  for  thirty  years.  "  This 
heavy  curved  cimeter  I  have  used  on  many  occasions,"  he 
said,  huskily,  "  and  it  is  a  good  one,  and  does  its  work  well ; 
but  when  I  do  not  feel  quite  so  sure  of  myself  I  always  use 
this  one  ;"  and  he  took  down  from  its  nail  still  another  old 
friend,  very  thin  and  slender  from  frequent  sharpening,  and 
very  much  curved.  He  handled  it,  and  felt  its  edge  with  ap- 
parent pride. 

"And  how  many  heads  have  you  chopped  off  in  one  day?" 
we  asked. 

"  Oh,  as  many  as  thirty,"  he  answered,  as  complacently  as  if 
it  had  been  a  question  as  to  his  preference  of  snuff  to  a  pipe. 
"And  with  practice,  when  my  hand  loses  its  precision  for  want 
of  necks,  I  can  with  this  thin  weapon  cut  out  a  five  franc 
silver  piece  from  between  two  blocks  of  wood  without  disturb- 
ing the  position  of  the  blocks." 

"  Then  we  will  remain  friends  with  you,  Ali  Ben — whatever- 
your-other-name-is ;"  and  our  hands  went  to  our  pockets  instinc- 
tively in  search  of  coin,  and  we  left  Ali  to  his  future  black  deeds, 
and — it  must  be  acknowledged — with  a  certain  wicked  feeling 
of  regret  that  we  could  not  witness  his  dexterity. 

We  were  told  by  our  guide  that  criminals  who  were  known 
to  have  wealthy  relatives  or  friends  fared  much  better  than  the 
poorer  wretches  who  were  doomed  for  slaughter.  "  Faring  bet- 
ter" is  a  doubtful  consolation  when  it  comes  to  having  one's 
head  cut  off.  When  the  executioner  pockets  a  handsome  re- 
muneration he  begins  the  fulfilment  of  his  dark  duties  by  exe- 
cuting the  culprit  who  has  paid  to  have  his  head  taken  off 
neatly  and  with  one  stroke  while  the  arm  is  fresh,  and  the 
eye  as  well  as  the  sword  keen,  whereas  the  thirtieth  man  who 


TO    AND    FROM   TUNIS. 


181 


kneels  with  his  arms  tied  behind  his  back,  on  the  marble  pave- 
ment in  the  hot  sun,  awaiting  his  turn,  frequently  has  his  agony 
prolonged  by  having  more  than  one  ill-aimed  whack  made  at  his 
neck  by  the  hard-hearted  or  careless  executioner.  But  none 
are  so  poor  among  the  slain  that  they  have  not  some  one  suf- 
ficiently interested  in  their 
future  welfare  to  ask  for  the 
head  and  body,  that  the  neck 
may  be  joined  in  the  same 
grave,  to  wait  the  resurrec- 
tion, when  it  is  important  to 
have  the  right  head  on  the 
right  man.  It  can  be  readi- 
ly understood,  therefore,  why 
the  Arabs  would  prefer  to 
die  by  some  other  means 
than  execution  by  the  sword 
or  guillotine. 

One  of  the  other  keepers 
of  the  Bardo  then  showed 
us  other  parts  of  the  palace 
and  grounds  with  more  pleas- 
ant associations,  especially  ENTRANCE  TO  A  HOUSE. 
the  grove  of  orange  -  trees, 

the  branches  of  which  were  thickly  laden,  and  hung  so  low 
that  we  could  choose  the  best  without  having  the  trouble  of 
lifting  our  heads.  We  were  not,  of  course,  fortunate  enough 
to  meet  any  of  the  houris  of  the  well-supplied  harem,  but  the 
eyes  of  many  were  doubtless  following  every  step  we  made, 
whether  through  the  garden  or  across  the  white  marble  pave- 
ment of  the  great  court,  into  which  they  could  peer  from  their 
concealed  apartments,  whence,  too,  they  were  perhaps  allowed 


1 82  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

to  witness  more  exciting  spectacles — the  carrying  out  of  jus- 
tice, for  example. 

There  are  various  reasons  given  for  the  custom  of  paint- 
ing a  red  hand  on  the  wall  near  the  door-ways  in  the  street; 
Some  say  that  it  is  "  merely  for  ornament ;"  others  that  it  is  a 
sign  of  good-fellowship — offering  the  hand  to  the  passers-by ; 
whereas  in  Tunis  a  dramatic  significance  is  given  to  its  use 
in  a  dangerous  quarter  of  that  city,  where  it  is  believed  that 
the  fingers  point  continually  towards  the  eyes  of  any  one  who 
intends  mischief,  and  that  they  would  blind  the  eyes  of  the 
assassin.  The  simple  method  resorted  to  for  painting  the  mark 
is  to  smear  the  hand  with  the  color  and  press  it  against  the 
wall. 

As  Christians  are  rigorously  excluded  from  the  mosques 
in  the  province  of  Tunis,  little  can  be  said  about  their  inte- 
riors. We  shall  give  but  a  passing  glance  at  Bona,  which  is 
interesting  from  a  historical  point  of  view — it  was  the  Hippo 
over  which  St.  Augustine  held  rule  as  bishop  —  but  not  par- 
ticularly so  as  regards  picturesque  life.  Like  Carthage,  it  was 
within  easy  reach  of  the  Romans. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

FROM    BON  A  TO   CONST  ANTINE. 

WHEN  we  had  taken  possession  of  our  rooms  at  the 
hotel,  upon  our  arrival  at  Bona,  our  attention  was  at- 
tracted to  a  group  of  Arabs  on  the  large  open  Place 
d'Armes,  which  lay  opposite  our  windows  and  was  planted  with 
trees.  In  front  of  the  Arab  butcher's  shop,  next  to  a  cafe,  two 
lions,  recently  killed  in  the  vicinity,  had  just  been  skinned,  and 
their  hides,  still  warm,  were  being  cleansed  and  scraped.  Un- 
fortunately their  carcasses  had  been  cut  up,  else  it  would  have 
been  a  rare  opportunity  of  studying  the  anatomy.  Since  the 
French  occupation  of  Algeria,  lions,  and  other  ferocious  beasts, 
have  almost  disappeared.  The  country  around  Bona  is  still  the 
wooded  and  hilly  district  where  most  lions  are  seen  and  hunted. 

At  Philippeville,  a  sea-coast  city  in  direct  line  from  Mar- 
seilles to  Constantine,  wre  found  ourselves  at  five  o'clock  one 
morning  trying  to  kill  an  hour  before  the  departure  of  the  train 
for  Constantine.  It  was  too  dark  to  see  anything.  The  unin- 
teresting town  had  all  its  doors  and  blinds  closed,  and  the  shops 
their  shutters ;  even  the  hard  and  dirty  benches  of  the  railway- 
station  were  not  at  our  disposal  at  that  early  hour;  the  only 
signs  of  life  being  in  the  locomotive  getting  up  steam,  and  in  a 
few  busy  Arabs  of  the  port  unloading  vessels,  while  still  others 
were  pestering  us  with  their  demands  for  more  pourboire  for 


1 84  WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 

the  services  they  had  rendered  us,  not  only  in  landing  our 
trunks  and  handbags,  but  in  doing  all  they  could  to  dismember 
and  dissect  us  in  their  endeavors  to  get  hold  of  them  beforehand. 
The  silence  of  the  port  was  otherwise  undisturbed.  Neither 

were  the  lions  awake — those  belonging  to  Monsieur  L ,  a 

wealthy  gentleman  of  Philippeville,  who,  we  were  told,  had  con- 
structed an  immense  cage,  enclosing  earth,  trees,  and  rocks, 
where  the  lions  could  disport  themselves  at  comparative  ease. 

After  waiting  for  some  time  we  joined  a  straggling  gang  of 
sailors  and  early  market  people  who  were  going  to  mass  at  the 
cathedral.  There  we  spent  a  good  half-hour,  and  came  out  to 
find  broad  daylight ;  then  we  heard  the  welcome  sound  of  the 
locomotive's  whistle,  and  were  off  through  green  trees  and  across 
deep  river-beds  overhung  with  twisted  roots  and  willows  and 
olive-trees.  Sunshine  and  singing-birds  made  us  forget  our 
misery  of  the  night  at  sea.  Soon  we  left  the  level  ground  and 
refreshing  verdure,  and  began  to  climb  laboriously,  for  within 
four  hours  we  were  to  ascend  to  Constantine,  2093  feet  above 
the  sea.  The  road  is  a  marvel  of  engineering,  but  the  ascent 
is  monotonous ;  one  can  get  out  and  walk,  keeping  pace  with 
the  train,  and  throw  stones  on  the  winding  and  zigzag  track  be- 
low. Puffing,  spitting,  and  struggling,  our  fatigued  engine,  at 
one  steep  grade,  could  go  no  farther,  but  with  a  whistle  for  the 
brakes  and  a  friendly  call  on  a  few  dozen  soldiers  and  other 
travellers,  we  helped  her  out  of  her  dilemma,  and  at  a  less  steep 
incline  we  all  jumped  aboard  and  did  our  share  of  puffing  and 
steaming.  At  about  ten  o'clock,  under  the  shade  of  cliffs,  in 
the  pure,  heavenly  atmosphere  of  the  elevation,  we  glided  into 
the  station  of  Constantine.  See  Rome,  see  Naples,  but  do  not 
die  until  you  have  seen  Constantine. 

I  believe  that  artists  possess  one  faculty  more  developed 
than  do  other  mortals — that  of  forming  a  tolerably  accurate 


FROM    BONA   TO    CONSTANTINE.  185 

idea  of  places  before  seeing  them,  and  of  not  being  deceived  or 
disappointed,  at  least  in  regard  to  local  color,  to  distances,  and 
to  the  heights  of  mountains,  accustomed  as  they  are  to  paint- 
ing from  nature  and  to  making  allowances  for  errors  of  inter- 
pretation in  pictures,  and  distortions  in  photographs,  of  places 
and  scenes.  Niagara,  Venice,  Naples,  for  instance,  I  found  very 
much  what  I  expected,  discarding  the  bright  emerald-green  and 
eternal  rainbow  of  Niagara,  and  the  conventional,  fiery  repre- 
sentations of  the  two  cities,  and  accepting  even  some  of  the 
grayest  aspects  of  the  places,  as  more  generally  true  than  the 
exaggerated  and  brilliant  ones.* 

This  is  somewhat  a  digression  from  the  subject,  but  my  ob- 
ject, on  the  one  hand,  is  to  present  the  realistic  side  of  Constan- 
tine,  and,  on  the  other,  to  take  the  city  as  an  example  of  gran- 
deur of  dimensions  and  situation,  from  the  ideal,  picturesque, 
and  romantic  point  of  view.  Contemplating  the  city  from  still 
greater  elevations,  and  from  a  distance,  by  early  morning,  in 
the  evening,  and  by  moonlight,  when  all  things  become  more 

*  In  spite  of  the  truth,  it  is  a  popular  error  with  a  vast  number  of  people 
who  have  never  seen  the  Italian  cities  to  be  influenced  by  gaudy  representa- 
tions to  the  extent  of  believing  that  the  natural  aspect  of  the  cities  is  that  of 
perpetual  after-glow;  that  everything  swims  in  a  haze  of  gold  and  heat.  As  for 
Africa!  the  name  itself  suggests  to  them  a  brazen  furnace;  and  in  order  to 
express  the  feeling  of  heat  in  the  atmosphere  it  is  thought  necessary  to  paint 
everything  yellow.  Now,  the  color  of  the  sky  and  of  sunlight  generally  has 
nothing  to  do  with  temperature.  In  the  middle  of  winter,  when  the  thermom- 
eter stood  at  ten  degrees  below  zero,  I  have  seen  over  New  York  bay  a  sunset 
sky  that  suggested  the  heat  of  Lower  Egypt  in  May,  and  which  was  exactly 
the  same  as  a  sunset  sky  in  that  country.  On  the  other  hand,  see  Spain ;  go 
to  the  high  plateau  of  Madrid,  where  the  air  is  clear.  The  sun  may  be  hottest 
when  the  sky  is  of  a  cold  deep  blue,  and  the  blank  white  houses  and  trees  are 
cut  out  against  it  with  scarcely  a  suggestion  of  yellow  in  them,  but  blinking 
under  an  intense  glare  like  that  of  the  chilly  and  uncongenial  electric  light. 


1 86  WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 

ideal  and  poetic,  Constantine  can  hardly  be  surpassed.  Now 
look  on  the  reverse  of  the  medal.  Enter  within  her  gates  and 
see  the  commonplace  modern  structures  that,  seen  from  without, 
assumed  the  aspect  of  palaces,  of  grand  fortifications,  with  tur- 
rets and  bastions  springing  apparently  from  the  solid  rock,  and 
growing  from  foundations  intended  for  them  by  nature ;  go  to 
the  edges  of  the  frightful  precipice  among  tanneries,  stables, 
filthy  habitations ;  descend  into  the  impenetrable  abyss  through 
stenches  arising  from  the  accumulation,  from  century  upon 
century,  of  offal  from  the  slaughter-house,  dead  bodies  of 
animals,  fed  upon  by  vultures,  and  you  will  see  what  I  mean 
by  realism.  The  Rournel,  in  times  of  siege,  has  run  through 
a  charnel-house  indescribable,  and  even  a  few  years  since 
could  have  revealed  blood-curdling  mysteries.  We  were  tempt- 
ed to  follow  the  ravine  and  the  impetuous  river,  but  the 
first  step  of  our  expedition  was  enough  to  prove  it  quite  impos- 
sible. We  found  ourselves  in  a  narrow  part  of  the  gorge, 
scarcely  fifteen  feet  wide,  near  a  bridge,  under  the  rock  called 
Sidi  Rached,  on  which  stand  the  ruins  of  a  fine  Roman  tower. 
This  is  said  to  have  been  the  Tarpeian  Rock  of  the  old  Turkish 
rulers  of  Constantine,  from  which  they  threw  faithless  or  sus- 
pected wives  into  the  torrent  five  hundred  feet  below.  Over 
this  cliff  upwards  of  three  hundred  of  the  inhabitants  let  them- 
selves down  by  ropes  to  escape  the  French  when  they  took 
possession  of  Constantine,  and  most  of  them  perished  mis- 
erably.* 

*  "  Nature  seems  to  have  constructed  Constantine  entirely  with  a  view  to 
defence  and  picturesque  effect.  It  occupies  the  summit  of  a  plateau  of  rock, 
nearly  quadrilateral  in  shape,  the  faces  corresponding  to  the  cardinal  points, 
and  its  surface  sloping  from  north  to  south.  Its  Asides  rise  perpendicularly 
nearly  one  thousand  feet  from  the  bed  of  the  river  Roumel,  which  surrounds 
it  on  the  north  and  east,  and  it  is  connected  on  the  west  side  only,  by  an 


FROM   BONA  TO   CONSTANTINE.  187 

The  old  town  containing  the  Jewish  and  Arab  quarters  re- 
mains quite  distinct,  and  its  streets  are  as  curious  as  those  of 
Algiers,  although,  unfortunately  for  the  artist,  at  least,  it  has 
become  very  much  circumscribed  by  the  encroaching  French 
buildings,  which  threaten  soon  to  replace  the  picturesque  ele- 
ment and  wipe  it  out  forever  by  new  broad  boulevards  and 
squares,  gravel-walks,  trees,  and  hideous  barracks. 

No  open  objection  was  made  to  our  entering  the  courts  of 
Jewish  houses,  although  we  suspected  that  our  presence  was 
not  always  agreeable,  and  were  now  and  then  convinced  of  it 
by  seeing  young  boys  who  passed  near  us  spit  on  the  ground 
to  show  their  contempt  of  us  as  Christians. 

Certain  classes  of  material  for  wearing  apparel  in  Constan- 
tine,  as  in  North  Africa  generally — calicoes,  Indian  prints  in 
vivid  colors  and  extravagant  designs,  silks  and  satins,  laces, 
gauzes  with  spangles  sewn  on,  and  gold  ornamentation  woven 
in — are  especially  made  in  France  and  England  for  this  market ; 
nevertheless,  as  they  are  not  to  be  seen  elsewhere,  they  look 
characteristic  and  in  keeping  with  the  Arab  costumes.  One 
often  sees  in  the  shops  and  streets  old  men,  wearing  big  spec- 
tacles like  bull's-eye  lanterns,  engaged,  like  the  soldiers  in  the 
barracks,  in  knitting  socks.  The  chief  articles  of  Arab  manu- 

O 

facture  are  leather  goods,  shoes,  saddles,  harness,  and  men's 
costumes,  all  of  which  the  Arab  workmen  and  the  Jewish  tailors 
embroider  most  beautifully  and  substantially.  The  making  of 
these  articles,  and  especially  the  weaving  of  hai'ks  and  burnooses 

isthmus,  with  the  main- land.  The  deep  ravine,  through  which  the  Roumel 
Mows,  varies  in  breadth  from  about  two  hundred  feet  on  the  south-east  side  to 
nearly  double  that  distance  opposite  the  Kasbah ;  and  is  spanned  on  the  north- 
east by  four  natural  arches  of  rock,  about  two  hundred  feet  above  the  stream, 
one  of  which  serves  as  the  foundation  for  the  bridge  of  El-Kantara."— Sir  L. 
PLAVFAIR. 


1 88  WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 

in    enormous    numbers,  constitute    the    principal    industries   of 
Constantine.     The  city  also  exports  wool  and  cereals. 

We  found  the  weather  uncomfortably  cold,  and  experienced 
the  same  drawback  to  sketching  out-of-doors  on  our  return  in 
May.  During  my  stay  I  could  hardly  rid  my  mind  of  the  dis- 
agreeable sensation  of  hanging  over  a  bottomless  pit — an  abyss 
of  a  thousand  feet  might  as  well  be  without  bottom  practically 
—or  of  an  irresistible  desire  to  jump  over  the  precipice.  I 
envied  the  eagles  their  power  of  flying  and  peering  into  inac- 
cessible recesses,  and  watched  them  as  they  swirled  half-way 
down  the  abyss,  showing  their  dark  backs  instead  of  their  light- 
colored  breasts  that  we  are  accustomed  to  see  when  they  soar 
above  our  heads.  My  apprehensions  in  regard  to  going  over 
the  precipice  were  sharpened  by  a  disagreeable  adventure  one 
dark  night  soon  after  my  arrival.  I  left  my  companion  at  a 
cafe  one  evening  after  dinner  and  strolled  through  the  well- 
lighted  principal  street  and  line  of  shops  into  an  almost  for- 
saken quarter  of  the  town  through  the  Arab  meat-market  and 
a  row  of  blacksmiths'  shops.  I  then  directed  my  steps  down  a 
dark  alley-way,  where  a  few  miserable  shops  and  dwellings  were 
dimly  lighted  with  oil-lamps  and  flickering,  sputtering  tapers ; 
I  had  passed  the  last  gas  street-lamp  when,  suddenly,  all  was 
black  and  blank  before  me.  I  stumbled  against  a  pile  of  rub- 
bish that  had  been  emptied  on  the  very  edge  of  the  fearful 
precipice,  and  the  stones  and  straw  that  I  had  loosened  with 
my  foot  went  rattling  down  the  perpendicular  walls  of  rock.  I 
instinctively  threw  myself  backward  and  caught  hold  of  some 
planks  to  my  right,  which  formed  a  rudely  made  fence  round  a 
few  feet  of  ground  which  served  as  a  stable-yard.  A  donkey 
was  standing  near,  and  almost  leaning  against  one  poor  rotten 
plank  which  separated  him  from  perdition ;  one  step,  only  one, 
and  he  could  easily  have  broken  the  barrier  or  slipped  under 


FROM    BON  A   TO   CONSTANTINE.  189 

it,  and  said  forever  farewell  to  his  labors.  One  step  more  and 
I  might  have  done  the  same.  -I  can  still  hear  the  dull  and 
distant  rushing  of  the  Roumel  from  the  regions  below,  and  the 
squawking  jackdaws  wakened  by  the  falling  debris. 

A  certain  drunkard  had  become  famous  here — from  no 
exertion  on  his  part,  but  probably  from  lack  of  it — a  few  years 
previous.  "  What  fate  ?"  you  will  ask.  "  Fell  over  and  was 
dashed  to  pieces  ?"  Not  at  all.  Fell  over,  yes ;  but  dashed  to 
pieces,  not  a  bit  of  it.  He  lived  to  imbibe  to  his  heart's  con- 
tent. Reeling  home  from  the  outskirts,  and  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  city,  he  rolled  too  near  the  edge  of  what  would  have 
been  the  deep  grave  of  any  respectable  and  sober  mortal,  and 
over  he  went;  but  at  that  part  of  the  ravine  where  it  opens  out 
above  the  falls  of  the  Roumel  the  rock  and  earth  for  two  or 
three  hundred  feet  slope  back  at  a  slight  incline,  and  there  are 
huge  cacti  growing  all  the  way  down  to  a  natural  bridge  which 
is  covered  with  grass.  Down  our  hero  went,  tearing  and  beine 

o  o  o 

torn,  and  bumping  on  the  tufts  and  shrubs  until  he  landed,  safe 
but  not  very  sound,  on  the  bridge  below.  He  was  recovered, 
but  was  of  course  badly  bruised  and  scratched,  and — history 
does  not  state,  but  I  should  be  inclined  to  think — sober. 

To  describe  the  principal  object  of  architectural  interest  in 
Constantine  I  cannot  do  better  than  use  the  words  of  Sir  L. 
Playfair: 

"  The  Palace  of  Constantine  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  buildings  in  the 
country;  it  is  by  no  means  venerable  in  point  of  age,  being  the  work  of  El-Hadj 
Ahmed,  the  last  Bey,  but  it  is  an  excellent  type  of  Moorish  architecture,  and 
it  is  constructed  out  of  materials  of  a  much  older  date. 

"  At  the  farther  end  of  the  Place  du  Palais  is  seen  a  heavy  and  inelegant 
mass  of  masonry,  the  appearance  of  which  is  by  no  means  improved  by  being 
pierced  with  several  modern  doors  and  windows,  but  on  passing  the  principal 
entrance  this  impression  is  instantly  dispelled.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive 
anything  more  brilliant  than  the  interior,  and  the  visitor  is  lost  in  astonishment 


190  WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 

at  the  endless  galleries  which  surround  its  exquisite  gardens,  the  whole  com- 
bining effects  of  perspective,  light,  shade,  and  color,  which  it  is  impossible  to 
describe. 

"  The  site  of  the  present  palace  used  to  be  a  mass  of  filthy  lanes  and  crum- 
bling houses.  In  1826  El-Hadj  Ahmed  was  named  Bey,  and  he  immediately 
conceived  the  idea  of  building  a  palace  worthy  of  the  rulers  of  Constantine. 
He  commenced,  by  fair  means  or  foul,  to  obtain  possession  of  the  ground 
necessary  for  his  purpose. 

"  A  Genoese  of  the  name  of  Schiaffino,  engaged  in  the  exportation  of  grain 
at  Bona,  was  charged  to  procure  from  Italy  the  marble  necessary  for  the  work, 
which  was  laboriously  brought,  ready  sculptured,  on  mules  from  the  coast. 
Complaints  of  the  Bey's  extortion  to  the  Dey  of  Algiers  caused  the  work  to  be 
suspended  for  a  time ;  but  in  1830,  becoming,  by  the  fall  of  the  Dey,  absolute 
master  of  the  province,  he  resumed  it  with  renewed  vigor.  He  collected  his 
workmen ;  without  the  least  scruple  he  commenced  to  demolish  the  houses 
which  stood  in  his  way;  all  the  principal  mansions  of  Constantine  were  de- 
spoiled of  their  choicest  works  of  art — old  encaustic  tiles,  marble  columns, 
carved  wood-work ;  the  summer  palace  of  Salah  Bey  was  entirely  destroyed  in 
this  manner.  And  so  the  palace,  which  under  ordinary  circumstances  would 
have  been  the  work  of  generations,  rose  as  if  by  enchantment  in  the  short 
space  of  six  years." 

The  extensive  colonnades  of  marble  columns  which  entirely 
surround  the  several  gardens  in  squares  are  partitioned  off  in 
places  by  screens  of  mousharabieh  and  intricate  carved  open 
wood-work  which  still  remain,  and  which  were  intended  to  se- 
clude the  women  of  the  harem.  What  pictures  of  ease  and 
luxury  one  can  imagine;  of  beautiful  young  women,  lounging 
and  dozing  on  divans,  watching  the  birds  in  the  gardens  luxu- 
riant with  orange  and  lime  trees,  mimosa,  palms,  and  flowers, 
sipping  their  coffee  and  smoking  the  narghileh,  the  smoke  curL 
ing  lazily  through  the  mousharabieh  and  climbing  honeysuckle 
and  jasmine  towards  the  dark  blue  sky. 

When  Constantine  and  Algiers  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
French,  some  of  the  most  pitiable  examples  of  imprisonment 
and  slavery  were  found  among  the  middle -class  inhabitants  of 


FROM   BONA   TO   CONSTANTINE. 


191 


these  cities.  Arabs  of  moderate  means,  for  instance,  who  could 
not  afford  large  villas  and  gardens,  housed  their  wives  in  small 
rooms  in  the  town,  and  from  motives  of  jealousy,  or  brutality 
in  many  cases,  the  fair  creatures  were  never  allowed  to  see  the 
light  of  the  open  street.  For  want  of  exercise  they  grew  so  fat 
that  they  could  move  about  only  with  great  difficulty.  Obesity 
constitutes  beauty  in  the  eyes  of  the  Arabs  ;  but  aside  from  it, 
they  suffered  from  numbers  of  ailments  and  diseases  caused  by 
close  confinement. 

And  what  mysteries  lie  beneath  the  city !  For  it  is  said 
that  a  perfect  labyrinth  of  subterranean  passages  exists,  prob- 
ably through  natural  as  well  as  artificial  fissures  in  the  rock. 
The  native  tradition  is  that  Constantine  is  built  on  vaults,  not 
merely  to  sustain  the  superstructure,  but  probably  to  serve  as 
storehouses  for  provisions  in  time  of  peace,  and  for  munitions 
of  war  and  places  of  refuge  during  sieges.  Imagine  a  promon- 
tory sloping  up  from  a  plain  to  a  height  of  a  thousand  feet,  then 
ending  abruptly  in  a  perpendicular  wall  of  rock  on  three  sides, 
opposite  a  similar  wall,  and  between  a  gulf  through  which  there 
was  no  escape,  if  the  besieged  were  attacked  from  the  side  of 
the  plain.  This  imprisoned  position  probably  caused  the  con- 
struction of  these  underground  vaults,  which  are  now  almost 
impossible  to  visit,  as  the  passages  are  blocked  up  with  stones 
and  indescribable  filth,  through  which  the  explorer  has  not  the 
courage  to  venture,  considering  also  the  danger  he  would  risk 
of  being  walled  up  or  lost  in  the  intricate  ramifications. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

ON    THE    WAY    TO    BISKRA. 

I  AM  now   in    1879,  and  on  a  trip   to   Biskra,  with   a   new 
travelling    companion.      After   our    creaking    and    dust-in- 
crusted  conveyance  had  been  loaded  to  the  utmost,  we  left 
Constantine  gayly  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  tearing  down- 
hill towards  the  plain,  bound  for  Batna  and  Biskra. 

Our  first  excitement  was  at  the  first  relay  of  horses.  While 
the  driver  was  warming  up  the  inner  man,  a  soldier  took  com- 
plete possession  of  the  remaining  space  on  the  imperial*  above, 
where  numerous  packages  to  be  distributed  on  the  way  were 
covered  with  a  tarpaulin,  and  stuffed  in  a  trunk  with  bedding 
enough  for  a  small  hospital.  Smothered  exclamations  were 
emitted  from  a  bundle  which  proved  to  be  an  Arab  asleep,  and 
language  that  was  not  smothered  from  the  driver  who  threw 
trunk  and  bedding  into  the  gutter,  and  viciously  drew  a  knife 
on  the  offending  piou-piou*  who,  seeing  himself  at  a  decided 
disadvantage,  smashed  his  umbrella  on  the  ground  in  rage,  and 
flourished  it,  inside  out,  as  we  drove  away. 

Arriving  at  Batna  after  a  good  twelve  hours'  journey,  we 
found  to  our  joy  a  blazing  fire  at  the  inn,  where  scarcely  twenty 
minutes  were  allowed  us  for  coffee.  We  were  now  on  a  high 
plateau  considerably  more  than  three  thousand  feet  above  the 

*  Nickname  for  private  soldiers. 


ON   THE   WAY   TO    BISKRA. 

sea.  Snow  and  ice  lay  along  the  road-side,  and  the  mud  in  the 
ruts,  where  the  road  was  bad,  was  frozen ;  but  the  thermometer 
went  up  as  we  went  down,  for  Biskra  is  only  three  hundred 
and  sixty  feet  above  the  sea,  and  our  evening  was  destined  to 
be  very  different  from  our  morning.  Our  only  travelling  com- 
panions from  Batna  were  two  Germans,  a  big  and  a  lesser 


EL-KAXTARA. 


German,  interested  in  botany.  In  the  small  vehicle,  which  did 
the  service  of  courier,  or  mail-carrier,  there  was  room  for  four 
and  no  more.  If  I  remember  rightly,  our  heavier  baggage  was 
brought  to  us  by  the  diligence  which  left.  Batna  three  times  a 
week. 

For  several  hours  we  were   all  cross  and  half  frozen ;   our 
teeth  chattered  notwithstanding  our  supply  of  heavy  overcoats 

12 


194  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

and  shawls.  The  landscape  was  bleak  and  barren ;  black  bushes 
among  gray  rocks,  pine-trees  and  cedars,  made  a  Norway  of  our 
North  Africa,  and  an  icy  wind  swept  across  the  high  plateau ; 
but  the  sun  was  doing  his  duty  by  beginning  to  dispel  the  slaty 
early  morning  clouds,  and  seemed  to  promise  more  genial  rays 
farther  on.  We  scarcely  came  out  of  our  shells  before  arriving 
at  El-Kantara  towards  noon:  the  rugged -and  cheerless  arid 
mountains  invited  no  enthusiasm ;  the  Arabs  we  met  on  the 
way  were  travellers;  they  were  muffled  in  their  burnooses,  and 
walked  fast  to  keep  warm.  I  remember  no  villages  worthy  of 
note,  and  one  dreary  stretch  of  plain  after  another  unfolded 
itself  before  us.  But  what  a  change,  physically  and  morally,  was 
soon  to  come  over  us !  El-Kantara,  the  Bridge,  or  as  Fromentin 
calls  it,  the  Golden  Gate  of  the  Sahara,  was  to  amply  justify  this 
poetic  and  truthful  comparison.  The  heavy  clouds  hanging 
about  the  northern  flank  of  the  ragged  band  of  limestone  rock, 
whose  high  and  serrated  edges  cut  sharply  against  the  sky, 
seemed  to  stop  short  and  grumble  as  if  actually  forbidden  to 
cross  the  frontier  of  the  Golden  Gate.  A  sudden  turn  at  the 
bottom  of  the  hill,  and  there  we  were  in  a  paradise  of  warmth 
and  beauty,  like  full-fledged  butterflies  from  frozen  cocoons. 

We  turned  our  backs  on  Alpine  scenery  and  temperature, 
and  plunged  into  tropical  vegetation.  Almond,  orange,  and 
lime  trees  were  clustered  round  the  welcome  hotel  where  we 
were  to  breakfast;  but  a  sensation  that  overcame  even  our  hun- 
ger was  the  pleasure  of  stretching  our  shaken  frames,  so  long 
cramped  in  a  narrow  carriage  and  on  slippery  leather  cushions. 
We  took  a  run  in  the  glowing  sunlight,  and  had'  a  glimpse  of 
the  sea  of  palm-trees,  which  made  a  dark-green  mass  so  grateful 
to  the  eye,  surrounded  as  the  oasis  was  by  the  rocky  desert 
quivering  with  heat.  The  fifteen  thousand  date-palms  are  the 
wealth  of  El-Kantara  village,  and  the  crop,  I  believe,  never  fails. 


ON   THE   WAY   TO    BISKRA.  195 

A  narrow  gap,  like  a  slice  out  of  a  cake,  and  not  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide  at  the  base,  where  run  the  river  and 
high-road,  widens  at  the  top  like  a  knife-sharpener.  This  was 
the  "  Golden  Gate  of  the  Sahara"  in  which  we  at  last  stood. 

We  were  to  enter  into  a  new  life  and  atmosphere,  where  the 
sun  reigns  supreme,  and  with  a  power  and  intensity  of  light  of 
which  those  know  nothing  who  have  not  seen  it. 

A  copious  breakfast,  with  a  hot  cup  of  coffee  and  cigarette, 
and  we  were  transformed  beings.  Our  diligence,  rattling  over 
the  dusty  road,  no  longer  frozen  and  bordered  with  ice,  was 
followed  by  all  the  children  in  the  village,  every  one  of  whom, 
of  course,  was  crying  out  for  backsheesh,  and  as  a  sou  fell 
among  them  their  demands  ceased  for  a  moment,  while  a  scram- 
ble ensued. 

The  village  of  sunburnt  bricks  and  mud  lined  the  banks 
of  the  river.  Men  at  that  hour  were  lounging  at  cafes,  although 
they  are  industrious  at  El-Kantara,  and  do  not  leave  all  the 
work  to  r  the  women.  The  latter  were  spinning,  grinding  corn, 
or  spreading  fruit  to  dry  on  skins  or  squares  of  cotton  stuff. 
Farther  on  they  were  seen  washing  clothes  by  treading  them 
with  their  feet,  their  ample  draperies  tucked  up  at  the  waist 
and  between  the  knees.  The  river  runs  through  great  bowlders 
of  a  whitish  gray  color,  worn  quite  smooth  by  the  action  of 
the  winter  torrents,  for  the  streams  are  swollen  in  winter  by 
the  snows  from  the  high  plateaus,  which  we  had  just  passed 
over;  and  as  the  torrent  rushes  through  the  desert,  frequently 
changing  its  course,  tents,  branches  of  trees,  and  bodies  of  ani- 
mals are  often  to  be  seen  floating  on  the  surface  of  the  water. 
As  we  turned  to  look  back  on  the  oasis  from  our  rocky  road 
it  was  difficult  to  realize  that  quite  another  country  lay  just  be- 
yond the  sharp  limestone  hills,  which  now  showed  their  glowing 
golden  face,  where  not  a  blade  of  grass  grew ;  the  sand  and 


196  WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 

detached  portions  of  the  continually  crumbling  rock  ran  down 
its  ravines  and  trickled  through  its  gullies  to  an  accumulated 
mass  at  the  base.  The  dark  band  of  palms  stood  in  bold  relief, 
and  threw  their  intricate  shadows  over  the  white  river-bed  and 
running  waters. 

Unveiled  women  and  girls  in  bright  costumes  made  spots, 
like  tropical  birds,  among  the  foliage  and  in  the  glinting  sun- 
light. Between  the  tall  and  slender  trunks  of  the  palms,  whose 
tufts  of  wiry  branches  met  and  interlaced  and  were  laden  with 
bright  yellow  and  brown  clusters  of  dates,  we  could  see  other 
trees  in  blossom  and  bearing  fruit :  the  mulberry,  apricot,  ap- 
ple, and  almond,  discreetly  screening  other  villages  beyond,  for 
there  are  several  of  them  in  the  same  oasis.  Square  towers  of 
the  same  color  and  construction  as  the  huts  loomed  up  here 
and  there.  These  are  used  as  watch-towers,  where  the  natives 
keep  guard  over  their  ripe  fruit.  Great  black  masses  of  mount- 
ain in  the  shadow  of  the  luminous  wall  facing  south  gave  vigor 
and  brilliancy  to  this  sunny,  wonderful  picture ;  and  as  we  de- 
scended the  great  plain  to  the  south  we  bade  a  long  farewell 
to  the  bleak  region  beyond  them.  We  were  now  in  the  desert — 
not  yet  the  desert  of  rolling  sand-hills,  but  in  the  rocky,  mount- 
ainous region,  where  the  vegetation  was  scanty  and  of  a  scrubby 
nature,  except  in  occasional  oases  where  water  was  to  be  found, 
and  where  patches  of  soil  were  cultivated  and  a  few  modern 
French  colonists'  houses  built.  At  the  edsfes  of  the  green 

o  o 

patches  of  wheat  and  oats  would  be  a  few  tents  of  nomads. 
Extreme  poverty  never  was  shown  to  me  in  such  naked  misery 
as  in  the  humble  resting-places  of  some  of  those  who  were  ap- 
parently the  outcasts  of  these  wandering  tribes.  On  a  hill-side 
among  the  surrounding  barren  rocks  I  noticed  occasionally  two 
or  three  strips  of  ploughed  ground  scarcely  ten  yards  square; 
the  tilling  of  the  ground  was  done  either  by  hand  or  by  means 


ON   THE   WAY   TO   BISKRA. 


197 


of  the  rudest  plough  —  a  sharpened  piece  of  log,  sometimes 
spoken  of  as  the  Arab  nail,  fastened  to  a  small  trunk  of  tree, 
which  served  for  the  shaft.  A  mangy  camel  and  donkey  were 
yoked  together.  On  one  occasion  I  saw  a  woman  carrying  her 
babe  on  her  back  and  tugging  at  the  plough  by  the  side -of  a 
donkey,  while  her  husband  guided  the  ploughshare.  Their 
home  for  the  time  being,  until  they  had  gathered  in  what  they 
had  sown  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow,  was  a  hole  in  some  nook 
in  front  of  which  they  had  made  a  door-way  of  brushwood.  The 
Arab  is  not  an  agriculturist  in  the  accepted  sense  of  the  word. 
His  shallow  ploughing,  with  an  instrument  justly  compared  to 
a  nail  which  only  scratches  the  earth's  surface,  might  be  im- 
proved by  a  little  more  trouble  and  ingenuity.  This  superficial 
tilling  of  the  ground  costs  him  double  the  amount  of  grain  ; 

o  o  o 

for  he  has  no  harrow,  and  reaps  perhaps  only  half  of  what  he 
sows:  the  crows  and  mice  enjoy  the  other  half.  Then,  again, 
the  Arab  will  always  plough  the  same  piece  of  ground  in  the 
same  way,  and  sow  the  same  crop — wheat,  corn,  or  barley ;  so 
that  he  exhausts  his  earth  and  frequently  reaps  miserable  re- 
sults. He  is  also  very  improvident  by  nature.  When  his  crops 
fail  he  borrows  two  or  three  hundred  francs  from  the  Cai'd  or 
a.  wealthy  neighbor  until  he  is  able  to  refund  the  sum  after  a 
good  harvest.  Then  he  first  pays  his  debt,  and  with  the  re- 
mainder of  his  money  he  treats  his  friends  to  a  fete — good 
dinners  of  mutton  and  kouskous,  plenty  of  gunpowder,  and  a 
grand  "  fantasia,"  in  which  all  the  proceeds  of  his  good-fortune 
go  off  in  smoke;  and  for  the  rest  of  the  year  he  continues  to 
practise  his  accustomed  strict  economy  until  another  season 
brings  him  either  a  new  debt  or  a  fete. 

O 

Towards  evening,  as  we  were  passing  a  river-bed  of  white 
pebbles,  among  which  trickled  the  last  lingering  thread  of 
water  meandering  about  the  roots  of  bushy  pink  and  white 


198  WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 

oleander,  we  met  a  wandering  family,  the  father  and  sons  on 
foot,  a  few  donkeys,  cows,  and  goats,  then  two  camels  bearing 
on  their  backs  the  women  and  children,  who  seemed  to  be 
smiling  and  happy,  shut  in  by  an  enormous  round  palanquin 
formed  of  tree  branches  and  wound  round  with  ornamented 
blankets  and  tellis,  or  saddle-bags,  to  prevent  the  children  from 
falling  out.  Other  forms  of  palanquin  in  this  region  are  a 
great  bow  over  the  camel's  hump,  with  cross-stakes,  which  sup- 
port the  heavy  woollen  tent,  generally  made  of  a  rich  red  blanket 
about  six  yards  long  by  two  wide,  serving  also  very  frequently 
as  a  part  of  the  costume  worn  by  the  women,  but  used  for  this 
purpose  when  travelling.  A  stuffed  saddle  fits  round  the 
camel's  hump  like  a  turban  on  a  shaven  head;  then  another 
saddle,  formed  of  wood  and  fashioned  like  the  bones  of  a 
chicken's  breast,  supports  the  large  framework,  resembling  a 
cage,  over  which  are  thrown  the  draperies  and  carpets.  A  seat 
is  arranged  on  either  side  of  the  camel's  hump,  each  to  carry 
a  woman.  The  wives,  thus  hidden  from  view,  are  sheltered 
from  the  hot  sun ;  that  is  one  recommendation.  But  the  ship- 
like  motion  of  the  camel  and  the  stuffiness  of  so  much  wool 
about  them,  besides  their  own  heavy  wearing  apparel,  without 
mentioning  numerous  bags  and  baskets  poked  into  every  avail- 
able corner  of  their  migrating  tower,  must  be,  to  say  the  least, 
uncomfortable. 

Our  horses,  in  descending  the  steep  incline  of  one  bank  of 
the  river,  tore  down  at  full  speed  in  order  to  make  sure  of 
hauling  us  up  on  the  opposite  bank.  We  were  now  crossing 
a  plain  of  sand  in  which  grew  tufts  of  alfa  grass ;  in  the  middle 
distance  was  a  strip  of  olive  brown  earth,  then  huge  mounds  in 
whose  rounded,  dark  ochre  sides  were  great  pale  yellow  and 
white  blotches,  where  rocks  and  earth  had  been  recently  de- 
tached. Behind  these  mounds  other  stretches  of  plain  led  back 


ON   THE   WAY   TO   BISKRA. 


199 


to  high  hills  of  dark  and  dense  blue,  for  they  presented  their 
shadow  side  to  us;  and  again,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  other 
blue  mountain  ridges,  all  of  which  lay  on  the  road  to  our  desti- 
nation. The  intensity  and  variety  of  color  in  this  desert  land- 
scape is  indescribable,  and  it  was  ever  changing  in  beauty  of 
form  and  line.  Occasionally  a  glassy  lake  of  water  was  formed, 
as  if  by  magic,  and  the  masses  of  rocks  and  shrubs  at  the  farther 
edge  were  reflected  and  twisted  into  fantastic  shapes;  then  all 
would  disappear;  it  was  the  ever-deceptive  mirage. 

The  enthusiasm  of  the  bigger  German,  one  of  our  travelling 
companions,  knew  no  bounds,  and  although  he  was  not  a  brother 
of  the  brush,  he  manifested  a  keen  appreciation  of  the  beautiful. 
I  find,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  written  at  the  time  of  my  trip,  the 
following  phrase  :  "  Our  big  companion  fired  off  his  enthusiasm 
like  cannon-balls,  and  seemed  to  jump  after  them,  in  his  ardent 
appreciation  of  nature."  The  fact  of  his  limited  knowledge  of 
French  or  English  accounted  for  his  eagerness  in  trying  to 
make  us  understand  his  feelings,  which  were  certainly  genuine ; 


THE   DESERT    NEAR    BISKRA    AND   THE    AURES. 


200  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

and  he  seemed,  moreover,  like  a  jolly  good  fellow  notwithstand- 
ing his  squabbles  with  the  lesser  German,  whom  he  appeared 
somewhat  to  ignore. 

For  an  hour  or  more  we  had  been  slowly  descending  a  bad 
stony  road;  the  new  broad  highway  was  in  course  of  construc- 
tion and  was  soon  to  be  finished.  We  passed  several  enormous 
transport  wagons,  drawn  by  mules,  and  met  the  diligence  tug- 
ging up  the  hill,  bringing  with  it  the  dust  and  heat  of  Biskra. 
We  were  glad  to  get  down  from  the  high  cold  table -land,  and 
these  travellers  were  tired  of  the  heat  and  of  climbing.  The 
whole  establishment,  the  diligence  and  all  it  contained,  the  har- 
ness and  horses,  seemed  to  be  undergoing  some  process  of  be- 
ing permanently  coated  with  a  crust  of  dust. 

Our  "  afternoon  tea"  consisted  not  of  that  beverage,  which 
in  this  locality  would  probably  have  been  a  concoction  of  alfa 
grass  and  brackish  water,  but  of  bread,  cheese,  and  beer,  of 
which  we  partook  with  the  greatest  relish,  at  a  tolerably  thriv- 
ing oasis.  The  dining  saloon  of  the  caravansary  was  a  shed 
furnished  with  long  wooden  benches  and  a  bare  board  table. 

A  little  more  endurance  and  we  were  soon  to  accomplish  our 
twenty-four  consecutive  hours  of  travel.  About  six  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  after  climbing  a  long  range  of  the  Aures  Hills,  the 
last  barrier  between  us  and  our  desert  goal,  which  now  lay  at 
our  feet,  we  came  in  full  view  of  the  mysterious  and  measure- 
less horizon,  merging  into  the  evening  sky  like  a  dull  and  misty 
ocean.  Though  this  is  practically  the  desert,  like  all  the  rocky 
country  through  which  we  had  travelled,  as  far  as  absence  of 
vegetation  and  scarcity  of  water  is  concerned,  the  real  Sahara 
only  begins  seriously,  as  may  be  said,  at  three  or  four  days'  jour- 
ney still  beyond  the  horizon  now  before  us. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

ARRIVAL    AT    BISKRA. 


ISKRA,  although   a  collection  of  several  distant  villages 


— as  the  name  signifies — all  belonging  to  the  one  oasis, 
interspersed  and  surrounded  by  its  hundred  thousand 
date-palms,  appeared  insignificant  in  -the  great  expanse,  and 
seemed  to  offer  a  rather  sad  store  of  compensation  for  all  our 
fatigue.  At  the  entrance  of  the  principal  street  and  on  the 
very  confines  of  the  oasis  stood  a  long,  square,  low  building, 
whitewashed,  with  a  large  enclosure,  in  which,  looking  from 
above,  we  could  see  the  arcades  surrounding  the  court.  This 
was  to  be  our  abiding  place,  Hotel  Casenave. 

On  our  arrival  several  brother  artists  and  friends  of  ours  left 
the  dinner-table  and  rushed  out  of  the  hotel  to  welcome  us  in  a 
manner  that  none  can  appreciate  who  have  not  experienced  a 
cordial  reception  under  similar  circumstances.  In  short,  what 
is  one's  life  itself  but  an  oasis  into  which  so  few  congenial 
spirits  are  welcomed  from  the  outer  desert  ?  Young  Arabs 
squeezed  their  noses  against  the  window-panes  outside,  winked 
and  smirked  at  us  to  obtain  our  confidence  as  a  preliminary 
to  getting  an  engagement  as  cicerone.  The  arrival  of  other 
saouarrs  was  a  great  event  for  them,  although  subsequent  ex- 
perience proved  that  they  were  quite  as  unfaithful  as  their 
young  brethren  in  Algiers  and  Tlen^en.  Notwithstanding  our 
extreme  discomfort,  we  were  tempted,  by  the  novelty  of  new 
scenes  which  we  had  so  long  wished  to  witness,  to  visit  the 


2O2 


WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 


town  and  cafes  before  going  to  bed.  The  perfect  stillness  of 
the  bright  moonlight  night  and  balmy  temperature  could  not 
have  been  surpassed  on  a  stroll  in  Paradise.  A  row  of  houses, 
none  of  which  exceeded  more  than  one  story  above  the  ground- 
floor,  except  the  military  cafe  and  club  for  the  officers,  lay  on 


BISKRA    BARBKR. 


the  same  side  of  the  street  as  our  own  quarters.  Opposite 
were  the  public  gardens  and  promenade,  planted  symmetrically 
with  trees;  the  Catholic  church  on  the  square,  and  forts  en- 
closing barracks  behind.  The  cafes,  of  which  we  passed  sev- 
eral, were  all  of  the  ordinary  Arab  type  of  construction — mud 


ARRIVAL   AT   BISKRA. 


203 


floors  and  walls,  with  soot-stained  palm-tree  ceilings  and  doors, 
with  nooks  and  corners  of  the  most  curious  possible  conception. 
They  were  comparatively  deserted,  as  the  natives  were  to  be 
found  at  the  great  cafe,  all  alive  with  clarionet  and  tam-tam,  the 
centre  of  the  night's  entertainment,  from  which  proceeded  a 
deafening  rhythmic  noise,  more  like  a  threshing-machine  than 
music.  This  cafe  ran  through  one  block  of  buildings,  with  en- 

O  O     ' 

trances  on  the  two  streets,  and  had  been  made  o-org;eous  with 

O          O 

hano-ing-s  of  all  kinds  of  material  and  color.     The  ceiling  and 

O         O  O 

walls  were  entirely  hidden  by  immense  hand-woven  blankets  or- 
namented with  every  conceivable  combination  of  stripe,  lozenge, 
and  square,  and  by  other  large  draperies  used  by  the  women  as 
part  of  their  costume.  The  palm-trunk  pillars,  surrounded  by 
a  circular  bench  and  supporting  the  roof,  were  wound  round 
and  festooned  with  printed  calicoes;  and  colored  paper  lanterns 
2-ave  a  charming:  soft  lio'ht  over  the  assemblv.  We  were  of- 

O  O  O  J 

fered  places  of  honor  among  a  conglomerate  mass  of  burnooses 
in  the  middle  of  the  stone  seats  which  ran  along  the  side. 
Near  us  were  eis-ht  or  ten  women  of  the  Ouled-Nahil  tribe 

O 

— dancing  girls,  who,  immovable  as  sphinxes,  sat  awaiting  their 
turn  to  perform.  Their  towering  head -gear  of  plaited  wool 
hung  over  their  ears  and  was  bound  by  sashes  and  rich  silk 
kerchiefs.  What  could  be  seen  of  their  faces  was  tattooed 
and  painted ;  bright  red  spots  the  size  of  a  dollar  on  each 
cheek,  crosses  and  zigzag;  designs  on  the  chin,  cheeks,  and  fore- 

O          O  O 

head;  their  arms  ornamented  in  the  same  way;  eyebrows  and 
lashes  heavily  smeared  with-  black  kohl.  An  overpowering 
odor  of  musk  was  emitted  from  their  persons,  and  a  profusion 
of  chinking  bracelets  and  jewellery  lay  in  bold  relief  of  design 
and  color  ag-ainst  the  classical  arrangement  of  their  rich  cos- 

O  *-* 

tumes  and  heavy  robes,  which  hung  in  ample  and  soft  folds 
about  them.  Two  of  these  stately  creatures  at  a  time  glided 


204  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

and  writhed,  keeping  time  in  a  languid,  shuffling  way  with  the 
screeching  clarionets  and  deafening  tam-tams,  which  figured 
here  in  considerable  numbers.  By  great  practice  these  dan- 
cing girls,  as  well  as  boys  who  dance  in  the  cafes,  have  acquired 
a  remarkable  power  of  quivering  their  bodies — as  horses  have  of 
rapidly  moving  their  skins  when  bothered  by  flies — to  such  an 
extent  that  they  can  keep  up  a  continuous  jingle  of  their  belts, 
to  which  are  attached  a  quantity  of  loose  bangles  and  sequins 
for  the  purpose;  while  they  move  their  arms  and  wrists  like  the 
great  lazy  wings  of  a  vulture.  As  they  brushed  by  the  spec- 
tator they  would  throw  themselves  backward,  placing  their  fore- 
head in  a  horizontal  position,  thus  inviting  him  to  lay  a  coin 
thereon.  Such  extensive  calls  were  made  upon  our  exchequer 
during  the  evening  that  we  reduced  specie  payment  to  the  form 
of  copper,  with  which,  becoming  familiar  with  the  method  of 
artistically  depositing  our  donations,  we  varied  the  monotony  of 
the  performance  and  created  not  a  little  hilarity  by  distributing 
the  coin  on  the  eyes,  chin,  lips,  and  end  of  the  nose.  Even  the 
heavy  brow,  sensual  lip,  and  bloodshot,  piercing  eye  of  the  desert 
Arab  were  moved  into  something  like  amiable  expression.  The 
Arabs  are  wont  to  keep  late  hours,  especially  on  such  occasions, 
so  we  left  them  relighting  their  long  pipes  with  live  coals  passed 
round  in  tongs  by  the  boy  who  poured  the  coffee,  and  we  sought 
the  shelter  of  our  own  roof  and  downy  (?)  couches.  The  room 
allotted  to  us  was  level  with  the  ground  and  looked  out  on  the 
street,  on  the  desert,  on  the  open  court,  and  was  entered  from 
the  passage  for  vehicles;  so  that  if  there  was  noise  from  any 
point  of  the  compass  we  were  sure  to  get  the  full  benefit  of  it. 
Although  the  door  was  the  natural  entrance,  the  following  cir- 
cumstance will  prove  that  our  apartment  seemed  to  be  equally 
accessible  from  all  sides.  From  time  to  time  we  bought  second- 
hand costumes  either  at  the  market-place  or  directly  from  the 


ARRIVAL   AT    BISKRA. 


205 


back  of  whoever  was  willing  to  sell  his  garment  and  strip  on 
the  spot.  On  two  occasions  I  purchased  on  the  latter  method, 
but  no  sooner  had  I  turned  my  back  on  my  room,  where  I 
had  hung  my  acquisitions,  than  I  became  a  dupe  to  the  treach- 
ery of  the  seller  and  original  possessor,  who  fished  them  off 
their  pegs,  I  supposed, 
with  a  pole  through 
the  iron  grating  on  the 
street  or  from  the  open 
window  in  the  court. 
My  suspicions,  howev- 
er, fell  more  heavily 
on  the  boy-of-all-work, 
whom  I  suspected  of 
conniving  to  his  own 
profit  with  the  impu- 
dent transgressor. 

**-S 

Our  first  night's  rest 

O 

came    to    an    untimelv 

J 

end   at  six   o'clock  the 

next  morning,  at  which 

hour  several  companies 

of  soldiers,  preceded  by 

a  vigorous  bugle,  passed 

our  windows   on    their 

way  to  drill  in  the  open 

desert.      Tempted  by  the  glorious  sunrise,  by  fresh  woods  and 

pastures  new,  and   being  thoroughly  awakened   by  the  various 

noises  round  about  us,  we  sought  repose  no  longer.     Our  room, 

moreover,  reminded  me  of   a   bass  drum,  and  seemed  specially 

constructed  to  receive,  echo,  and  magnify  all  sounds  from  the 

exterior.     Before  taking  our  coffee,  and  to  lose  nothing  of  the 


MASROUDA,  GIRL    OF    BISKRA. 


206  WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 

lovely  early  morning,  we  directed  our  steps  towards  the  south 
to  see  the  broad  river-bed  and  the  effect  of  the  long  blue 
shadows  over  its  banks  and  across  the  desert,  and  watch  the 
increasing  glow  of  sunlight  on  the  distant  pink  hills  to  the 
north-east,  delicately  veiled  in  streaks  by  the  fresh  morning 
mist.  The  "mountain  of  salt"  lay  like  a  solid  mass  of  crystal- 
lized mist,  with  jagged  edges,  against  the  blue  shadows  of  rock 
beyond.  The  Arabs  have  extracted  immense  quantities  of  salt, 
breaking  it  off  as  needed,  from  this  curious  upheaval,  the  result, 
it  is  supposed,  of  subterranean  volcanic  pressure.  There  are  no 
schotts*  or  salt-marshes,  in  this  vicinity,  but  they  exist  elsewhere 

*  The  desert  scenery  on  the  way  from  Biskra  to  Tuggurt — or  Toogoort,  as 
the  Arabs  pronounce  it — resembles  portions  already  described;  but  after  a  dis- 
tance of  about  forty-five  miles,  or  at  the  end  of  two  days'  travel,  the  last  sight 
of  the  beautiful  Aures  Mountains,  north  of  Biskra,  fades  into  the  horizon,  and 
then  the  traveller  descends  to  a  lower  plain,  and  sees  at  his  feet  an  immense 
lake,  the  schott— or  salt-marsh — Melghir,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
long.  Other  smaller  schotts  are  connected  with  the  great  lake  by  a  river  eighty- 
miles  in  length.  These  abound  in  water-fowl  and  fish — this  does  not  sound 
like  a  description  of  the  desert — but  farther  on,  at  something  like  a  hundred 
miles,  the  real  Sahara  fine  sand  begins  in  earnest,  and  the  road  becomes  heavy 
and  very  fatiguing. 

The  schotts  are  in  some  places  very  shallow,  only  covering  the  horse's 
hoofs,  and  there  is  a  strange  hollow  sound  to  the  earth,  as  if  the  traveller  were 
walking  over  the  roof  of  a  resounding  vault.  A  greater  phenomenon,  however, 
is  found  among  the  sand  drifts  that  are  not  entirely  destitute  of  vegetation.  A 
rumbling  noise,  resembling  muffled  drums,  is  heard  for  hours  together,  and  is 
supposed  to  be  produced  by  the  grass  and  weeds  rubbing  against  each  other, 
and  by  the  displacement  of  the  grains  of  sand  continually  moving  at  their  roots. 
In  the  regions  where  this  phenomenon  is  not  produced  the  silence  is  absolute. 

The  French  have  bored  one  or  two  artesian  wells  on  the  way,  and  the  low 
walls  which  surround  them  afford  the  only  shade  to  be  found.  The  oases  are 
now  few  and  far  between,  and  the  mounds  of  sand  begin  to  present  the  aspect 
at  a  distance  of  ploughed  ground  or  a  basket  of  eggs,  or  of  the  ripples  we  see 


ARRIVAL   AT   BISKRA. 


207 


in  the  desert — an  interesting  demonstration  of  the  fact  that  the 
Sahara  was  once  a  sea,  and  that  parts  of  it  are  still  capable  of 
being  converted  into  lakes  by  artificial  means.  Schetma,  a 
poor  village  about  five  miles  distant,  lay  under  a  veil  of  pearly 
mist  which  stretched  along  the  straight  horizon,  separating  two 
other  oases  from  the  sky,  and  making  floating  islands  of  them. 


in  the  sand  on  the  sea-shore,  except  that  these  drifts  attain  the  height  of  twenty 
feet.  The  sand  is  so  fine  and  loose,  and  is  so  susceptible  to  disturbance,  that 
when  crossed  by  the  horses  and  wagon  they  may  be  almost  buried  if  great  care 
is  not  taken  to  avoid  such  a  catastrophe,  and  this  is  not  the  exception  but 
in  certain  portions  the  rule,  especially  on  approaching  Tuggurt  from  any  side. 
Now  can  any  one  doubt  the  terrible  consequences  of  a  fierce  sirocco  in  such 
an  ocean  of  sand  ?  The  simple  idea  fills  one  with  terror.  Round  pillars  ot 
masonry  twelve  or  thirteen  feet  high  have  been  built  at  certain  distances,  and 
for  miles  immense  poles  are  also  fixed  in  the  ground  to  indicate  the  track,  but 
through  leaden  clouds  of  sand  it  is  still  difficult  to  see  them.  Then  to  think 
of  a  three  months'  journey  to  Timbuctoo  !  Travellers  often  find,  on  leaving 
Tuggurt,  a  mountain  of  sand  where  there  was  a  valley  a  day  or  two  previous, 
and  they  naturally  think  that  they  are  on  the  wrong  road  home. 

Glorious  was  the  day  for  the  natives  when,  at  the  end  of  several  weeks' 
labor,  the  first  artesian  well,  in  1856,  sent  forth  a  gushing  stream  which  yielded 
four  thousand  quarts  of  water  a  minute.  The  hearts  of  the  inhabitants  as  well 
as  the  water-field  were  tapped,  and  the  rejoicings  they  manifested  in  "fan- 
tasias," dancing,  and  singing,  in  gratitude  to  the  French  for  their  enterprise, 
can  be  better  imagined  than  described.  Neighboring  oases,  where  ordinary 
wells  existed,  but  had  failed  and  become  filled  up,  had  been  deserted,  in  the  year 
mentioned,  by  the  despairing  inhabitants,  who  forsook  their  native  land,  driven 
away  by  thirst ;  thirst  for  themselves  and  thirst  for  their  gardens,  which  con- 
tinually diminished  and  dried  up  for  want  of  irrigation.  Two  other  artesian 
wells  have  been  sunk  at  Tuggurt.  It  would  be  difficult  to  understand  how  a 
nation,  however  fanatical,  could  rise  in  insurrection  against  such  benefactors 
as  their  conquerors  have  been.  The  position  of  the  French,  however,  seems 
secure  in  this  region  from  the  fact  that  they  have  placed  the  military  govern- 
ment of  the  post  in  the  hands  of  an  Arab  officer  of  the  Spahis,  who  enjoys 
the  reputation  of  being  upright  and  popular. 


208  WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 

From  dark  brown  camel's-hair  tents  came  the  first  signs  of  life; 
horses,  with  their  variegated  blankets  over  them,  and  their  fore- 
feet fettered  by  a  rope,  which  was  held  to  the  ground  by  a 
stake  at  each  end,  and  was  of  sufficient  length  to  allow  a  little 
freedom  of  movement,  were  unfastened  and  led  to  drink  at  the 
stream.  In  the  immediate  foreground  was  a  family  scene  in 
all  its  Biblical  simplicity  of  character.  Three  or  four  tents 
had  been  pitched  on  the  outskirts  of  the  oasis,  probably  for 
the  winter  season,  and  now,  for  reasons  known  only  to  the 
nomads  themselves,  they  were  moving  all  their  earthly  posses- 
sions to  another  spot.  One  tent  still  remained  pegged  to  the 
ground,  and  stretched  over  a  wall  of  sun-dried  mud  and  an 
enclosure  of  straw  matted  together,  forming  a  small  recess  en- 
tered from  the  interior  of  the  tents.  This  was  the  kitchen, 
from  which  rose  a  straight  column  of  smoke,  blue  against  the 
dark  objects,  and  of  a  mottled  brown  as  it  passed  upward,  in 
opposition  to  the  brilliant  pale  yellow  sky.  Is  this  a  trivial 
observation  ?  I  think  not ;  for  a  very  common  failing  among 
artists  is  to  paint  smoke  blue,  regardless  of  the  value  of  tone 
which  is  seen  through  it.  If  you  are  not  aware  of  the  fact, 
reader,  smoke  a  cigarette  in  your  studio  —  supposing  you  are 
an  artist — and  notice  the  smoke  blue  against  the  dark  corners, 
brown  against  your  skylight. 

Abraham,  the  old  grandfather,  and  his  several  sons  smoked 
their  pipes  peacefully,  while  three  young  wives  were  struggling 
and  panting  over  their  difficult  task  of  folding  a  bulky  tent  and 
placing  it  on  the  back  of  a  camel,  and  the  ill-natured  beast 
was  protesting  with  all  his  might,  by  gurgling  and  blubbering 
out  the  loose  lining  of  hi?  mouth.  Piles  of  ashes,  burned  straw, 
and  blackened  stones  indicated  the  homely  fireside,  and  a  circle 
of  well-trodden  earth  their  resting-place — "  the  spot  that  knew 
them,  but  shall  know  them  no  more." 


ARRIVAL  AT   BISKRA. 


209 


We  remonstrated  with  the  men  in  our  limited  Arabic  vocab- 
ulary, aided  by  gesticulations,  for  allowing  the  women  to  do  all 
the  work.  Their  answer  was,  "Oh,  we  play  at  fantasia,  ride, 
and  hunt;  this  is  not  our  work."  To  make  our  observations 
perfectly  clear,  we  set  to  work  and  helped  the  fine-looking  wom- 
en to  pull  the  tent's  pegs  from  the  ground,  which  act  amused 
them  all  considerably.  This  was  an  introduction,  and  as  usual 
they  held  out  hands  for  backsheesh ;  but  we  answered  with  a 
counter-demand  for  backsheesh,  as  we  had  better  claim,  having 
earned  it.  By  this  as  much  laughter  was  evoked  as  we  had 
ever  seen  among  this  rather  mournful  class,  and  we  parted  on 
friendly  terms. 
13 


CHAPTER   XXX. 

DUELS. 

RETURNING  by  the  high  walls  of  the  fort,  I  noticed  a 
group  of  Arabs  very  intent  on  something  going  on  over 
the  high  river-bank,  under  shadow  of  the  fortifications. 
As  I  approached,  all  was  silent  except  the  sharp  click,  click, 
clack,  click,  in  rapid  succession,  of  sabres,  and  on  turning  the 
corner,  I  saw  two  brigadiers  of  the  Spahi  regiment  (French 
officers  over  the  native  soldiers)  naked  to  the  waist.  They 
had  been  whacking  at  each  other  with  long,  curved  cavalry 
sabres,  and  it  appeared  that  it  is  allowable  to  use  either  their 
ri^ht  or  left  hand,  o'r  both ;  for  the  victim  had  received,  inside 
the  left  arm,  a  slashing  cut,  severing  a  neat  slice  of  the  fleshy 
part  of  muscle  almost  as  long  as  the  hand,  and  this  hung  by  a 
strip  of  skin.  The  proud  vanquisher  was  just  strutting  off,  in 
his  ample  pantaloons  and  boots,  to  dress  himself  quietly,  and 
was  apparently  unconcerned,  while  his  adversary  stood  gazing 
blankly  before  him,  his  face  livid,  but  without  any  expression 
except  that  of  stern  determination  not  to  wince  as  the  surgeon 
dressed  his  arm.  He  grew  fainter  and  whiter,  however,  sank 
on  the  grass,  and  asked  for  a  glass  of  brandy.  Honor  was 
satisfied ;  the  combatants  had  embraced  each  other,  according 
to  the  army  discipline — more  galling,  I  should  think,  than  the 
fight  itself  —  and  that  was  the  end  of  the  trivial  dispute  in  a 
cafe,  high  words  and  insulting  epithets,  after  which,  whether 


DUELS.  211 

they  wished  or  not,  they  had  been  obliged,  through  discipline, 
to  fight  That  is  the  general  rule ;  but  we  learned  later  that 
in  this  case  the  older  officer  had  asked  permission  of  his  cap- 
tain to  fight  the  younger — a  new-comer  in  the  regiment — who 
had  been  lacking  in  respect  to  him. 

A  few  of  the  officers  took  their  meals  at  our  table,  and  after 
listening  to  our  narrative  of  the  encounter  above  described,  en- 
tertained us  with  many  amusing  anecdotes  of  the  pranks  and 
punishments  of  the  private  soldiers  (those  not  belonging  to  the 
Spahi  regiment);  for  we  were  told  that  the  whole  garrison  was 
formed  of  renegades,  thieves,  and  other  unmanageable  subjects 
or  "  hard  cases "  generally,  who  had  been  sent  to  this  distant 
post,  where  they  could  be  kept  out  of  mischief.  In  derision  of 
their  real  character  they  gloried  in  the  nickname  of  Lcs  Joycux. 
The  officers  told  us  of  duels  they  had  witnessed,  which  on  two 
occasions  had  been  most  exciting.  In  one  case  a  powerful 
stroke  on  the  part  of  the  insulted  party  had  opened  the  abdo- 
men of  his  adversary,  causing  almost  immediate  death  ;  and  in 
the  other  instance,  although  honor  had  been  already  amply  sat- 
isfied by  the  drawing  of  blood,  the  offended  combatant  insisted 
on  having  more  revenge,  which  demand  was  granted  by  the 
seconds,  the  result  being  the  instant  death  of  the  already  wound- 
ed man,  who  fell  a  victim  to  a  terrible  downward  cut  along  the 
neck,  severing  the  jugular  vein.  As  these  subjects  were  dis- 
cussed at  noonday  breakfast,  an  officer  proposed  that  we  should 
all  go  to  see  a  duel  of  an  unusual  character  and  of  true  local 
interest.  "  You  have  begun  the  day  with  excitement,"  one  of 
them  said,  "and  you  might  as  well  continue  while  you  are  in 
the  mood ;  you  can  find  plenty  of  material  at  arm's-length  to 
transfer  to  canvas  afterwards,  and  besides,  you  will  not  have 
time  to  brood  over  the  fatiguing  effects  of  your  long  journey" 

We  were  first  invited  to  go  and  take  a  glass  of  Chartreuse 


212 


WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 


and  smoke  a  cigarette  with  the  officers  in  their  bachelor  quarters 
within  the  barracks.  Two  good-sized  rooms,  side  by  side,  looked 
more  like  a  home  than  any  place  we  had  seen  of  late.  There 
were  large  arm-chairs  of  wicker-work  ornamented  with  red  tas- 
sels, and  made  comfortable  with  big,  cool-looking  cushions  of 


SPAHI,  ALGIERS. 

cretonne,  matting  all  over  the  floor  and  up  the  wainscoting, 
bright  red  hangings  on  the  wall  above,  on  which  dangled  native 
arms,  swords,  spears,  Touarez  saddles,  with  family  photographs, 
leather  pouches,  stuffed  lizards,  fans,  knick-knacks,  and  souve- 
nirs of  all  sorts  in  artistic  disorder.  The  furniture  and  writ- 
ing-table were  enlivened  by  objects  appropriate  to  them,  and 
divans  were  strewn  with  highly  ornamented  Touarez  cush- 


DUELS. 


213 


ions,  leopard  and  gazelle  skins.  Over  high  and  broad  windows 
opening  onto  a  balcony  were  hung  wide  strips  of  matting  to 
keep  out  the  heat  of  the  sun ;  but  being  loosely  woven,  these  al- 
lowed a  free  circulation  of  air.  Gargoulehs,  or  jugs  of  porous 
earth,  stood  on  the  window-sill  in  a  current  of  air  which  cooled 
the  water  in  them  by  evaporation.  The  rooms  were  bathed  in 
a  diffused  light  reflected  by  this  contrivance,  so  that  a  charm 
of  subdued  color  was  added.  The  garden  without  was  dry  and 
dusty ;  there  stood  clusters  of  palms,  eight  or  a  dozen  growing 
from  one  mound,  their  trunks  almost  touching  at  the*  base,  first 
leaning  outward,  then  growing  upright,  with  gray-green  wiry 
foliage  meeting  and  interlacing  at  the  top  like  so  many  bayo- 
nets. The  earth  beneath  had  been  worn  smooth  and  hard.  A 
large  tame  deer  and  gazelles  were  wandering  about,  the  palm 
branches  casting  sharp  lace-work  shadows  across  their  golden 
buff  hides  and  slender,  pipe-stem  legs.  "  Now  come  to  the  roof 
and  we'll  have  the  fight,"  said  our  host.  "  Achmed,  you  young 
rascal,  pull  that  small  box  over  this  way,  and  put  the  larger  one 
in  the  corner,  then  stop  that  hole  with  a  plank ;  stand  on  this 
low  division  in  the  terrace  with  a  stick,  and  mind  you  do  not  let 
them  get  past  you."  The  terrace  was  quite  flat  and  cemented 
with  solid  wall  parapet  all  round,  about  two  feet  high,  after  the 
fashion  of  the  Algiers  houses.  • 

Captain  D.  then  uncovered  two  cases  and  shook  out  from 
one  an  enormous  bellam,  or  palm-tree  lizard,  about  twenty-six 
inches  long  and  of  a  dusty  color;  from  the  other  box  jumped 
another  lizard,  the  Arab  name  of  which  I  do  not  recall,  of  a 
dark  slate  color,  smaller,  and  much  more  vivacious.  Both  of  the 
little  animals  darted  about  the  confines  of  the  terrace  like  ar- 
rows, trying  to  get  away  over  the  wall  or  through  a  crack.  Af- 
ter some  trouble  in  circumscribing  the  area,  which  gave  them 
too  much  room,  they  finally  understood  that  fighting  could  no 


214  WINTERS   IN    ALGERIA. 

longer  be  avoided,  and  being  mortal  enemies  by  nature,  they 
sprang  at  each  other  after  having  stopped  and  stared  for  a  few 
seconds.  The  large  bellam  seemed  more  powerful  and  could 
take  more  of  a  mouthful  at  his  antagonist's  hide ;  but  the  short, 
stolid  gray  lizard  had  the  advantage  over  him,  as  he  travelled  at 
lightning  speed,  tiring  out  his  foe  and  watching  every  opportu- 
nity to  wound  him ;  he  possessed  a  formidable  jaw,  like  that  of 
a  turtle,  and  when  he  caught  hold  of  his  opponent's  hide  he 
turned  himself  over  and  over,  vigorously  scrambling  and  scratch- 
ing with  his  claws,  and  with  such  rapidity  that  he  not  only  took 
out  a  round  morsel  of  skin  and  flesh — as  one  would  cut  a  hole 
with  a  pair  of  scissors  in  a  blanket  after  folding  it — but  made  it 
impossible  at  the  same  time  for  his  adversary  to  get  a  bite  in 
him.  With  similar  success  this  plucky  fighter  broke  several  of 
his  enemy's  legs  when  he  did  not  twist  them  completely  off ;  his 
tail  was  not  an  encumbrance,  for  it  came  abruptly  to  an  end  and 
was  like  a  coarse  rasp ;  it  may  have  been  bitten  off  and  have 
healed  up  again  after  a  previous  "  affair  of  honor,"  though  I  be- 
lieve it  was  originally  intended  by  nature  to  be  as  it  was.  The 
reptiles  were  now  separated,  for  the  larger  one  was  hors  de  com- 
bat, and  crept  into  a  corner,  where  he  lay  panting  and  exhaust- 
ed; it  was  cruel  sport,  and  we  never  asked  to  see  a  repetition 
of  it.  Guy  de  Maupassant,  in  his  fascinating  work  "  Au  Soleil," 
gives  a  description  of  a  fight  between  a  lizard  like  our  small 
gray  hero  and  the  cerastes,  a  most  venomous  yellow,  sand-colored 
viper,  scarcely  ever  more  than  ten  inches  long.  The  reptiles  in 
this  case  were  kept  in  close  quarters  in  a  packing-box,  from 
which  they  could  not  escape.  Here  the  rapid  lizard  exercised 
the  same  strategical  instinct  of  tiring  out  his  enemy  by  moving 
about  so  rapidly  that  the  viper,  still  more  sluggish  than  the 
large  bellam,  had  no  chance  of  planting  his  deadly  fang,  for  one 
bite  with  its  poison  was  all  that  was  needed.  Finally  the  ce- 


DUELS. 


215 


rastes  neglected  his  guard  for  an  instant,  and  like  lightning  the 
indefatigable  gray  lizard  pounced  upon  him,  and  with  his  ter- 
rible jaws  caught  and  held  him  just  behind  the  ears — exactly 
where  the  Arab  snake-charmers  take  them  with  the  fingers — 

•  o 

while  he  Avrithed  until  his  agonies  came  to  an  end.  These  liz- 
ards are  nearly  always  to  be  found  in  the  palm-tree,  and  can 
with  difficulty  be  seen  against  the  jagged  surface  of  the  trunk. 
They  live  on  insects,  the  special  delicacy  of  the  bellam  being 
large  spiders  of  a  very  venomous  species.  The  large  lizard  in 
the  former  combat  probably  expired,  and  was  taken  to  be  stuffed 
to  swell  the  array  of  specimens  on  the  walls  of  the  young  offi- 
cer's rooms.  Every  few  days  he  came  in  to  breakfast  and  ex- 
hibited different  specimens  of  these  little  reptiles,  which  he  had 
caught  and  kept  concealed  in  his  sleeve  or  bosom,  to  be  pro- 
duced and  allowed  to  scramble  on  the  table  at  a  moment  when 
least  expected.  We  accused  him,  however,  cf  buying  them  of 
an  old  Arab  woman  who  lived  in  "  vieux  Biskra,"  and  who  had 
collected  several  hundreds  of  creeping  things — scorpions,  spi- 
ders, lizards,  and  snakes — which  she  kept  and  fed  in  bottles  and 
barrels.  These  she  offered  for  sale  to  travellers  and  collectors. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

IN   THE   VILLAGES  AROUND   BISKRA. 

PASSING  out  of  Biskra  proper,  we  were  still  in  the  oasis 
among  palm  and  fig  trees.  Then  came  an  open  space, 
where,  among  the  undulating  wheat  and  corn  fields,  were 
pitched  tents  of  guardians  over  property,  or  of  poor  nomads, 
making  use  of  a  rocky  and  comparatively  worthless  spot  of 
ground  at  a  less  rate  of  rental,  almost  hidden  from  view  by 
brushwood  and  the  sweeping  limbs  of  a  great  olive.  The  paths 
which  connected  the  villages  were  smooth  and  hard,  sometimes 
wide,  then  narrowing  between  high  walls  of  dried  mud  enclos- 
ing luxuriant  gardens  on  either  side.  The  river,  which  had  left 
the  mountains  about  ten  miles  distant  to  the  north,  after  flowing 
of  its  own  free-will  through  the  rocky  desert,  was  checked  a 
mile  above  Biskra  by  a  high  and  thick  stone  wall,  in  which  was 
a  sluice  conducting  the  water  into  a  channel  five  or  six  feet 
broad  by  perhaps  four  feet  deep.  This  rivulet  was  now  dimin- 
ished by  half  as  it  ran  at  the  foot  of  the  wall  on  one  side  of  our 
path,  for  every  drop  is  economized,  and  the  precious  liquid  is 
sold  at  fixed  prices  to  the  inhabitants  for  the  purpose  of  irrigat- 
ing their  fields  and  gardens.  From  its  entrance  into  the  oasis 
to  its  exit,  where  the  remaining  drops  are  soon  swallowed  up  in 
the  sands,  the  stream  is  stopped  at  intervals  by  hewn  stones, 
upon  which  are  placed  other  blocks  of  stone  in  order  to  meas- 
ure accurately  the  quantity  of  water  sold  for  irrigation,  the  main 


IN   THE  VILLAGES  AROUND    BISKRA.  217 

stream  being  allowed  to  pass  in  the  large  opening,  while  the 
small  blocks  are  placed  as  required — from  half  an  inch  to  sev- 
eral inches  between  them.  For  the  sum  of  one  thousand  francs 
the  farmer  secures  perpetual  use  of  a  stream  of  water  half  an 
inch  in  width,  the  depth  varying,  at  his  own  risk  and  according 
to  the  quantity  of  water  at  different  seasons,  from  about  six 
inches  or  an  overflow  to  his  profit,  to  almost  nothing  during  the 
summer  months.  Four  thousand  francs  buys  perpetual  use  of  a 
hand's-breadth.  Then  there  are  arrangements  which  allow  the 
farmer  at  a  lower  price  to  use  what  he  requires  only,  having  it 
turned  on  every  few  days — three,  four,  or  even  ten — or  for  so 
many  hours  or  minutes  at  a  time.  This  system  was  method- 
ically carried  out  by  an  old  Arab  inspector,  who,  with  hour-glass 
in  hand,  performed  his  duty  conscientiously,  stopping  the  dimin- 
utive sluices  with  mud  as  soon  as  the  stipulated  lapse  of  time 
had  expired.  For  two  successive  winters  the  supply  of  water 
had  been  scarce,  as  the  confluents  to  the  main  source  which  fur- 
nish Biskra  had  run  dry.  Little  or  no  snow  had  fallen,  and  the 
numerous  villages  built  in  the  mountain  gorges,  dependent  en- 
tirely on  the  melting  snows  for  water,  suffered  lamentably  from 
drought.  Not  only  had  they  lost  their  crop  of  dates  for  two 
seasons,  but  the  inhabitants — and  this  arduous  duty  was  largely 
shared  by  the  women — were  obliged  to  go  in  search  of  water  a 
distance,  sometimes,  of  fourteen  kilometres  (about  nine  miles), 
with  croat -skins  on  their  backs,  and  with  the  aid  of  donkeys 

O 

laden  with  skins  and  jars.  Our  friends  had  visited  some  of  these 
poor  villages,  which  they  described  as  being  built  in  terraces 
above  the  tops  of  the  palms  growing  at  the  bottom  of  the  deep 
ravines  ;  all  above  was  barren  rock.  The  women,  they  declared, 
were  not  inferior  to  the  Venus  of  Milo. 

Farther  on  in   our  stroll  we  came  across   the  well-known 
maboul  (crazy  or  cracked  man)  of  the  locality,  an  pld  fellow  of 


2l8  WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 

near  sixty  years,  inoffensive,  smiling,  and  happy.  He  was  sun- 
ning himself  in  the  warm  rays,  which  shot  through  the  dense 
grove  of  palms  in  the  gardens,  throwing  long  shadows  against 
the  wall.  He  imagined  himself  immensely  wealthy ;  and  so  he 
would  have  been,  if  old  buttons  from  soldiers'  uniforms,  empty 
cartouches,  tin  shavings,  which  hung  in  profusion  round  his  neck 
and  were  tied  to  the  shreds  of  his  threadbare  burnoose,  had 
been  current  coin.  From  bags  carefully  concealed  and  tied  up 
he  drew  forth  his  priceless  jewels — bits  of  colored  glass,  beads, 
crystal  prisms  from  modern  chandeliers,  and  no  end  of  "  truck." 
It  is  a  firm  belief  among  the  Arabs  that  the  mind  of  a  maboul 
is  with  the  Creator ;  he  is  therefore  treated  with  respect  and  re- 
ceives alms  from  the  people. 

Arriving  at  another  village  without  leaving  the  oasis,  we 
visited  several  interiors,  passing  through  dark  covered  ways,  on 
each  side  of  which  were  black-looking  abodes,  with  entrances 
scarcely  four  feet  high  ;  these  were  rented  to  the  poor.  We  sud- 
denly came  to  a  large  door  wide  open ;  from  there,  to  a  perfect 
representation  of  the  Nativity,  banishing  certain  ideas  of  conven- 
tionality. A  young  mother  was  sitting  on  the  ground  among 
the  ample  folds  of  her  deep  blue  drapery,  showing  in  places  the 
yellow  strip  inserted  at  the  waist.  She  held  a  distaff  made  of  a 
reed  wound  with  a  thick  bunch  of  hemp,  from  which  she  was 
pulling  and  twisting  a  thread,  twirling  in  her  right  hand  the 
spindle.  With  one  foot  she  rocked  a  rude  cradle,  which  was 
suspended  by  long  cords  from  the  ceiling  and  almost  touched 
the  ground.  Her  babe  was  sleeping,  and  a  ray  of  sunlight 
streaming  through  a  hole  in  the  roof  fell  like  a  luminous  bomb 
on  the  floor,  lighting  the  mother's  face  by  reflection,  while  the 
cradle  caught  the  light  in  full  as  it  swung  to  and  fro.  A  rnde 
stair-way  behind  the  scene  led  to  the  terrace,  and  the  opening 
revealed  a  little  square  of  brilliant,  mellow  sky.  To  the  right  a 


IN   THE   VILLAGES    AROUND    BISKRA.  221 

frugal  soup  was  boiling  in  an  earthen  kettle  over  the  fire,  which 
sent  a  column  of  smoke  to  blacken  the  palm-branch  ceiling  and 
mingle  with  the  cobwebs,  then  to  be  caught  by  the  sudden  cur- 
rent of  air,  twirling  in  a  dense  cloud,  and  fighting  with  the  sun 
for  exit.  To  the  left  a  low  wall  partitioned  off  the  stable,  where 
a  cow  and  goat  could  barely  be  seen  in  the  obscurity.  Before 
this  scene  we  stood  enraptured,  and  exclaimed  almost  simulta- 
neously, "The  Nativity!"  But  where  was  St.  Joseph?  Unfort- 
unately, the  saint  appeared,  in  the  form  of  a  well-to-do  Arab, 
much  too  soon;  we  had  good  reason  to  regret  his  advent. 
"Clear  out  of  this!"  yelled  the  husband,  as  he  arrived  from 
the  other  end  of  the  dark  passage  -  way.  "  Who  gave  you 
permission  to  come  prowling  around  my  private  dwelling?" 
"  Why,  you  did  yourself,"  answered  one  of  our  party.  "  You 
authorized  me  only  last  week  to  come  here  and  paint,  and 
these  are  my  friends."  "  No,  no ;  you  are  in  my  house,  and 
the  soorner  you  go  the  better;  and  don't  let  me  see  you  here 
again ;"  making  motion  at  the  same  time  with  his  staff  and 
burnoose  as  if  he  were  scaring  out  chickens. 

We  returned  by  the  negro  village  outside  of  the  oasis,  where 
there  was  no  shade  except  that  under  the  low  walls  of  miserable 
houses;  yet  this  comparatively  forsaken  quarter  was  chosen  by 
our  friends,  now  old  in  experience,  in  which  to  rent  an  empty 
dwelling  as  a  studio — not  as  a  shelter  from  rainy  weather,  but 
from  the  wind,  and  also  for  the  purpose  of  having  models  pose 
without  the  interference  of  the  populace.  Then,  when  we  sub- 
sequently took  possession  of  the  studio  as  successors  to  our 
friends,  our  checkered  experience  began.  The  ruses  for  get- 
ting sitters  to  come,  and  the  fruitless  rendezvous  given;  the 
assistance  of  neighbors  to  whose  house  the  suspicious  and  half- 
frightened  feminine  natives  could  first  go,  then  sneak  round 
the  corner  or  through  a  hole  in  the  roof  by  passing  over  the 


222  WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 

terraces,  would  be  as  confusing  a  record  to  offer  my  reader  as 
the  incidents  were  amusing  and  more  frequently  exasperating 
to  us.  Then  the  halt,  the  maimed,  and  the  blind,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  healthy,  ugly  specimens  of  humanity,  who  pounded  at 
the  door,  beseeching  us,  "  Saouarr,  Saouarr  nee  !  Saouarr  nee  !" 
(Artist,  paint  me ;  paint  my  portrait.)  When  one  of  these  was 
admitted,  and  a  study  fairly  begun,  his  patience  gave  out,  and 
he  became  still  more  anxious  to  get  away.  Our  trials  and 
tribulations  were  manifold,  but  our  susceptibilities  hardened  in 
time,  and  we  discovered  that  ruling  with  an  iron  rod  was  our 
only  chance ;  for  persuasion,  conciliation,  and  a  sense  of  up- 
rightness are  not  qualities  often  to  be  appreciated  by  the  Arab 
mind.  The  kicks  and  cuffs  administered  to  the  lower  classes 
by  the  military  we  thought  at  first  most  uncalle,d-for  and  cruel, 
but  the  natives  did  not  look  upon  the  act  so  seriously. 

The  fete  at  the  central  cafe  still  continued,  and  we  returned 
in  the  evening  to  find  the  Ouled-Nahil  women,  still  magnificent 
under  their  burden  of  trinkets  and  jewellery,  but  not  sitting  as 
we  found  them  the  previous  night — bolt-upright  in  tailor-fashion, 
their  hands  hanging  languidly  over  their  knees— but  gathered 
round  a  table  rolling  cigarettes,  and  with  several  bottles  of  wine 
at  their  disposal.  It  was  difficult  to  obtain  these  dancing 
women  as  models,  but  we  made  an  appointment  with  one  of 
them,  naming  a  day  and  hour  after  the  festivities,  for  we  wished 
to  make  a  study  of  the  cafe  while  still  in  gorgeous  array.  In 
accordance  with  the  usual  custom  among  the  Arabs,  an  exorbi- 
tant sum  was  charged  in  anticipation  of  bargaining.  Twenty 
francs  was  the  sum  fixed  by  the  cafetier ;  but,  "to  avoid  prolix- 
ity," as  Benvenuto  says,  I  will  simply  state  that  after  firmness 
on  our  part  and  haggling  on  the  part  of  the  cafetier,  he  received 
one  franc  from  each  of  us,  which  had  been  our  offer  from  the 
beginning. 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

A   SIROCCO. 

WE  had  enjoyed  a  few  days  of  heavenly  weather,  but  we 
were  to  have  a  change.  An  approaching  sirocco 
makes  itself  felt  long  before  the  wind  has  actually 
reached  one,  and  in  spite  of  frequent  visits  -to  the  cafe  and  in* 
dulgence  in  awakening  beverages,  our  energies  refused  to  be 
roused  from  the  extreme  lassitude  they  were  prey  to.  This  feel- 
ing of  drowsiness  was  not  owing  altogether  to  the  sirocco,  but 
also  to  the  water  (strongly  charged,  if  I  mistake  not,  with  mag- 
nesia) which  we  had  been  drinking,  and  against  the  use  of  which 
we  could  not  defend  ourselves,  for  in  the  cooking  and  in  the 
coffee  and  tea  its  disquieting  properties  yet  remained. 

Going  to  bed  we  felt  the  peculiar  sensation  on  the  skin  of 
having  been  rubbed  with  sand-paper,  and  the  desire  to  lubricate 
it  with  oil.  The  prevalence  of  this  feeling  may  be  one  of  the 
reasons  why  in  many  Oriental  countries  the  natives  oil  them- 
selves from  head  to  foot ;  the  oil  must  be  a  soothing  applica- 
tion aside  from  the  fact  that  it  beautifies  the  complexion.  The 
latter  is  without  doubt  the  principal  reason.  Among  the  Nu- 
bians, in  whose  country  I  travelled  to  the  second  cataract,  I 
especially  noticed  their  lustrous  skin,  and  there  the  lubrication 
used  was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  castor-oil.  Could  we,  I 
wonder,  so  far  overcome  our  early  horror  of  it  as  to  resort  to 
castor-oil  for  the  sake  of  softening  the  skin,  even  if  in  a  meas- 


224.  WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 

ure  it  diminished  the  disagreeably  parched  sensation  ?  The 
skin  of  the  children,  who  rolled  naked  in  the  sand,  resembled 
the  hide  of  the  elephant ;  and  the  little  negroes,  black  by  nat- 
ure, were  of  a  blue-gray,  and  as  rough  as  shark-skin.  Let  me 
add  that  these  negroes,  especially  the  adults,  dress  their  hair 
with  the  same  oil ;  it  is  then  done  up  in  tiny  plaits,  and  not 
combed  out  or  replaited  for  weeks  and  months ;  the  oil  be- 
comes rancid  in  the  sun,  and  the  pungent  odor  will  carry,  in  a 
favorable  wind,  a  mile,  and,  for  highly  sensitive  nasal  organs, 
will  kill,  it  may  be  said,  at  twenty  paces.  While  sojourning 
with  the  Nubians  I  bought  several  leather  girdles  and  pouches 
which  had  been  worn.  Days  of  saturation  in  soap-suds  and 
warm  water,  besides  two  weeks'  trailing  in  the  Nile  attached 
under  my  cabin-window  in  our  dahabeah,  was  totally  ineffectual 
to  deodorize  them ;  they  rotted  and  fell  to  pieces,  but  remained 
faithful  to  the  perfume  of  their  original  owners  to  the  last  mo- 
ment of  existence. 

But  to  return  to  our  bedroom  and  the  approaching  sirocco. 
Our  night's  rest  was  disturbed  by  the  gale,  which  steadily  in- 
creased, swept  the  great  plains  just  without  our  walls,  and 
whizzed  and  flurried  about  the  colonnade  of  the  large  open 
court,  sending  clouds  of  sand  and  dust  through  our  shutters 
and  down  the  chimney,  and  bending  the  dry  palm-leaves  which 
fought  with  each  other  and  produced  a  sound  like  that  of  a 
heavy  shower  of  rain.  There  was  a  small  window,  about 
two  feet  square,  as  if  intended  for  the  porter's  lodge,  through 
which  I  could  see,  from  my  bed,  the  large  folding- doors  of 
the  main  entrance.  This  window  seemed  air-tight  in  ordinary 
weather,  but  that  night  the  sand  found  its  way  through  the 
cracks,  and  covered  my  counterpane  and  pillow,  making  every- 
thing gritty  to  the  touch.  My  watch  hung  against  the  wall 
with  the  lid  open  and  was  filled  with  sand.  As  for  the  floor, 


A  SIROCCO. 


225 


it  was  a  small  Sahara  in  itself,  and  the  sand,  which  lay  three 
inches  thick  round  the  door-sill,  was  as  beautifully  and  sym- 
metrically rippled  as  a  sea-beach.  My  last  fresh  oil-study  wore 
a  mysterious  veil,  and  could  have  fulfilled  the  services  of  a 
shark's  skin ;  but  when  the  paint  was  quite  dry  the  sand  was 
brushed  off,  and  by  retouching  it  I  saved  its  existence.  The 
occasion  of  the  sirocco  offered  opportunities  of  which  we  took 
advantage.  Installing  our  easels  without  and  against  the  walls, 
we  sheltered  ourselves  with  sketching- umbrellas  and  shawls 
held  down  by  stones.  Near  us  was  a  branch  of  the  river, 
about  two  feet  wide  and  as  many  in  depth,  which  had  become 
flowing  mud,  and  so  thick  that  when  a  sudden  gust  blew  a 
cloud  of  sand  into  it,  it  floated  for  a  moment  on  the  surface 
like  so  much  chaff.  As  this  was  naturally  the  condition  of  all 
the  water  within  our  reach,  an  important  process  went  on  in  the 
hotel — the  filling  of  every  available  vessel  in  order  to  let  the 
sand  settle.  At  a  short  distance  from  us  was  a  douar  of  tents 
in  the  open  plain,  \vhere  the  camels  were  lying  with  their  necks 
stretched  in  a  straight  line  on  the  ground,  while  the  smaller  ani- 
mals had  disappeared  into  shelter  wherever  it  could  be  found. 
Beyond,  a  detached  oasis  was  seen  through  a  veil,  thicker  and 
thicker  towards  the  horizon,  and  the  sky  was  obscured  by  a  uni- 
form cloud  of  sand  through  which  the  sun  was  seen  like  a  pale 
wafer.  We  were  soon  forced  to  beat  a  retreat,  as  the  colors  on 
the  palette  became  stiff  with  dust  and  our  brushes  unmanage- 
able. Now,  as  we  were  prevented  from  working  out-of-doors, 
was  the  time  to  negotiate  for  a  definite  sitting  with  our  savage- 
looking  native  of  the  Ouled-Nahil,  who  had  of  course  forgotten 
her  engagement.  Achmed,  our  young  factotum,  was  according- 
ly sent  on  the  errand,  and  returned  with  the  promise  that  she 
would  certainly  come  in  gala  costume  the  next  morning  at  nine 
o'clock.  As  the  sirocco  generally  continues  three,  six,  or  nine 


226  WINTERS   IN  ALGERIA. 

• 
days,  the  most  profitable  occupation  that  remained  for  us  was 

the  indulgence  in  a  Moorish  bath,  first  to  study  anatomy  while 
our  own  was  being  manipulated,  then  to  lie  on  our  mattress  on 
a  long  divan,  sip  coffee,  and  study  character  in  the  natives. 
The  warm  sunlight  streamed  in  from  small  windows,  contrasting 
with  the  blue  vapor  under  the  dome  of  the  tepidarium,  of  which 
we  caught  glimpses  as  the  heavy  doors  swung  open  to  allow, 
another  ghost-like  figure,  swathed  in  sheets  and  turbans,  to  pass 
out  and  share  our  dolce  far  niente.  All  was  quiet  within ;  the 
sirocco  moaned  without,  and  we  all  agreed  to  indulge  in  a  short 
nap,  and  let  the  world  wag  as  it  would.  This  bath  resembled 
others,  of  which  description  has  already  been  given  in  these 
pages,  except  that  everything  was  of  a  ruder  character  and  pro- 
portionately odoriferous.  The  following  morning,  the  Ouled- 
Nahil  tribe  not  being  represented  in  the  shape  of  the  promised 
and  coveted  model,  we  repaired  to  her  dwelling  at  half-past  nine. 
Almost  an  entire  street  is  taken  up  by  these  festive  damsels. 
The  brisker  members  of  the  dancing-girl  community  have  the 
luxury  of  a  dwelling  with  an  upper  story,  reached  by  a  queer 
little  stair- way,  steep  and  winding,  the  steps  being  immacu- 
late with  whitewash,  and  having  slabs  of  slate  on  the  top. 
The  faded,  or  by-gone,  dancers  live  on  the  ground-floor,  either 
on  a  level  with  the  street,  or  still  lower.  The  only  light  in 
their  rooms,  when  the  door  is  closed,  comes  from  a  small 
aperture,  six  inches  square,  under  the  door ;  but  the  door  is 
often  sufficiently  dilapidated  to  allow  dispensing  with  a  win- 
dow. Whether  in  these  apartments  or  in  those  of  the  upper 
story,  the  furniture  is  the  same  —  coffee-tables,  sideboards,  eta- 
geres,  of  clumsy  make,  like  all  the  common  Algerian  work, 
and  painted  in  the  most  vivid  colors.  Carpets  and  draperies, 
hand -woven  and  made  to  last  forever,  unless  abandoned  to 
the  ravages  of  moths  (which  are  attracted  by  the  greasin^ss  of 


A   SIROCCO.  229 

the  wool),  are    thrown   about  in  profusion.      This  description 
will  answer  for  the  houses   in    Biskra  generally,  and,  in   fact, 
throughout  Algeria.     The  poor  must  content  themselves  with 
the  earth  floor  and  a  strip  of  matting  to  sleep  on;  the  luxuries 
come  after  they  have  converted  their   silver  coin,  to  a  certain 
extent,  into  bracelets,  anklets,  and  ear-rings,  which   small  fort- 
une they  always   have   at   hand   in   case   of  necessity  or  want. 
This  rule  applies  to  all  Arab  women,  besides  the  class  we  are 
dealing  with    at   present.      Our    Ouled-Nahil    carried  all    her 
wealth  on  her  person,  and  the  room,  or  rather  cellar,  in  which 
she   lived  could   boast   of  nothing  superfluous.      Knocking  at 
her  closed   door,  we  heard   a  grunt   from  within.     "  Eh,  who's 
there  ?"     "Achmed.     The   saouarrs   are  waiting  for  you ;   why 
don't  you   come  ?"      With   that  we  pushed   the   door  open ;   it 
creaked  on  its  wooden  pivot  below,  and  knocked  about  in  the 
loose  fixture  above.     We  naturally  expected  to  find  her  in  the 
act  of  putting  the  finishing  touches  to  her  eyebrows  or  her  ap- 
parel ;    not  at  all.     She  roused  herself  drowsily  from  her  bed, 
which  was   three  feet  high — an  elevated   portion   of  the   mud 
building — and  which  had  for  mattress  a  piece  of  alfa  matting. 
"  Ah,  Sidi  Saouarr,  I  am  coming  in  two  minutes."      As  there 
was  no  dressing  or  undressing,  we  did  not  even  suggest  leav- 
ing her  alone.     She  had  slept  in  all  her  toggery,  jewellery,  and 
everything  she   had  worn   the   night   before,  and   probably  for 
weeks  of  nights  previous.     Her  morning  ablutions  were  quick- 
ly performed ;  a  saucer  in  which  she  poured  a  few  spoonfuls  of 
water  from  an  earthen  gargouleh  was  held  by  Achmed  while 
she  dabbed  her  fingers  in  it,  and  passed  them  over  her  eyelids, 
mouth,  and  upper  lip,  wiping  them  with  a  corner  of  her  drap- 
ery, and  adjusted  the  disorder  in  her  costume,  holding  in  her 
hand  a  round  looking-glass— the  kind  that  reflects  one's  face 
in  a  series   of  bumps   and  hcllows— backed  with  leather  and 


230  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

ornamented  with  thongs  of  the  same,  with  tassels  and  embroid- 
ery of  colored  silks.  Arriving  at  our  studio,  Zaniyah  gave  us 
characteristic  poses  of  her  dances,  aided  by  Achmed  as  a  mu- 
sician on  the  tam-tam,  and  by  a  few  other  youngsters,  whom 
we  let  in  as  a  great  favor,  but  with  the  intention  of  making 
use  of  them.  They  clapped  their  hands  and  gave  an  inspirit- 
ing feeling  to  the  scene.  "  So  that  is  the  way  you  take  your 
morning  bath,  is  it,  Zaniyah?  In  a  saucer?"  "Oh  yes,  Sidi ; 
but  every  week  or  so  we  go  to  the  hot  springs  at  Djebel  bou- 
Gohazal,  a  distance  of  six  kilometres  from  here,. where,  without 
paying,  we  can  bathe  as  often  as  we  like,  in  a  tank  outside  the 
enclosure."  The  interior  is  reserved  for  the  officers,  and  for 
those  who  pay.  We  were  also  told  that  the  hot  water,  112° 
Fahrenheit  at  the  source,  flowed  into  a  marsh  where  there  were 
fish  living  in  a  temperature  of  96°. 

The  lack  of  appreciation  of  a  picture,  photograph,  or  any 
representation  of  nature  is  wanting  in  the  Arab  mind  to  an 
incredible  degree,  more  so  perhaps  than  among  the  most  ig- 
norant of  the  European  peasants.  My  friend  G.  was  making 
a  study  of  a  French  officer  of  the  Ckasseurs  d"1  Afrique,  the 
jacket  of  whose  uniform  is  ornamented  with  thick  cords  of 
braid.  Several  Arabs  standing  round  were  asked  their  opinion 
as  to  the  resemblance  to  the  officer.  "  I  don't  know  what  it 
is,"  said  a  Bedouin.  "  Well,  what  do  you  think  ?"  asked  G. 
"A  tiger,"  was  the  answer.  "  No,  try  it  again."  "A  gray  cow 
with  stripes  across  her  back,"  was  the  next  guess.  The  Arab 
was  then  holding  the  study  in  a  horizontal  position. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

SCENES   FROM    LIFE    IN   THE   SAHARA. 

THE  sirocco  was  now  at  the  third  day  and  had  much 
abated ;  but  not  to  risk  being  blown  away,  we  sought 
subjects  for  study  elsewhere  than  at  the  mercy  of  the 
wind  and  sand.  Behind  the  negro  village  is  an  oasis,  within 
our  oasis  of  Biskra,  in  which  a  wealthy  French  gentleman, 
Monsieur  Landon,  has  reaped  the  fruits  of  his  enterprise  by 
cultivating  successfully  many  Australian  trees,  besides  the  co- 
coanut,  mango,  and  custard-apple,  which,  if  the  acclimatization 
can  in  future  be  continued,  will  become  a  rare  delicacy  for 
such  a  tropical  climate.  Through  the  guardian  of  the  deli- 
cious villa,  as  its  proprietor  had  not  yet  arrived,  we  gained  ad- 
mission to  the  grounds,  and  in  this  delightful  retreat  we  were 
completely  sheltered  from  the  wind  and  dust.  In  fact,  towards 
evening  the  temperature  seemed  unusually  low,  but  it  was  ow- 
ing to  our  surroundings,  as  we  discovered  when  we  left  the 
gardens  at  sunset;  for  we  met  an  atmosphere  that  was  stifling 
compared  with  that  of  the  cool  grove.  The  walks  between 
the  clusters  of  tree  trunks,  bushes,  dense  fields  of  bamboo, 
banana,  and  flowers  were  raised  a  foot  or  more  from  the  in- 
tervening patches  of  grass  and  small  species  of  fern  and  other 
plants  which  required  moisture.  Aside  from  the  coolness  of 
the  late  afternoon  atmosphere,  I  remarked  to  my  friend  S.  that 
I  was  not  only  chilled  through  and  through,  but  felt  an  extraor- 


232  WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 

dinary  dampness  round  about  me,  as  if  I  were  sitting  over 
water.  "  And  so  you  are,  my  good  friend ;  you  are  sitting 
over  and  in  the  water,  and  so  am  I.  It  has  been  turned  on  to 
irrigate  these  little  swamps,  and  has  gradually  overflowed  the 
roots  of  the  plants,  and  the  big  leaves  are  just  beginning  to 
float."  Sure  enough ;  and  in  order  to  regain  the  path  we  could 
not  do  otherwise  than  walk  ankle-deep  in  the  little  lake,  leav- 
ing Achmed  to  wade  in  after  our  easels  and  sketching-stools. 

The  main  villa,  cool  and  sombre,  and  the  separate  pavilions, 
used,  some  as  smoking  and  quiet  siesta  retreats,  others  as  baths, 
surrounded  by  fragrant  flowers  and  singing- birds,  seemed  in- 
deed well  suited  to  afford  comfort  even  during  the  summer 
months.  But  the  thought  of  the  thermometer  at  126°  (Fahr.)— 
the  maximum,  'tis  true — or  even  at  105°  to  1 10°,  which  is  the 
ordinary  summer  heat,  is  enough  to  dispel  the  illusions  of  com- 
fort. Even  the  Arabs  cannot  bear  this  temperature,  and  all  the 
natives  who  can  possibly  leave  Biskra  go  north  towards  Con- 
stantine,  or  to  the  high  plateaus  of  the  Tell,  a  cooler  region  that 
lies  along  the  Atlas  from  south-west  to  north-east.  When  the 
intense  heat  of  midsummer  is  accompanied  by  a  sirocco,  it  may 
be  imagined  what  the  inconveniences  are,  if  even  the  April  tem- 
perature was  insupportable.  Sleeping  at  night  becomes  almost 
impossible,  and  the  natives  resort  to  wet  sheets,  to  their  cotton 
gandouras  and  turbans,  which  they  saturate  in  the  river  and 
wrap  round  them  in  order  to'  experience  a  few  moments  of 
partial  comfort;  but  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time  their 
wrappings  are  quite  dry.  The  military  club  had  rejoiced  in  a 
freezing  apparatus  for  some  years,  but  during  the  previous  sum- 
mer it  became  hopelessly  out  of  order;  so  that  they  were  obliged 
to  quench  their  thirst  with  water,  very  bad  beer,  and  other  bev- 
erages, at  a  temperature  not  lower  than  (if  I  remember  the  exact 
figure)  75°.  This  kind  of  weather,  especially  with  a  sirocco,  is 


SCENES    FROM    LIFE   IN   THE   SAHARA.  233 

just  what  the  scorpions  like,  and  it  sends  them  all  out  of  their 
hiding-places.  They  scamper  about  like  crabs  among  the  palm- 
branch  ceilings,  and  in  and  out  of  the  crevices  of  the  mud  walls. 
An  officer  of  our  acquaintance,  stopping  one  summer  night 
at  a  miserable  dwelling,  awoke  at  daybreak  and  found  several  of 
the  unwelcome  guests,  with  tails  in  the  air,  promenading  on  his 
person.  In  view  of  the  chance  that  he  might  nurse  a  cerastes 
as  well,  he  chose  to  sleep  in  his  clothes  and  swelter  rather  than 
expose  himself  to  torture  from  the  bite  of  the  scorpion  or  death 
from  that  of  the  viper.  The  temperature  of  the  coldest  night 
on  record  for  many  years  previous  had  been  36°.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  say  which  extreme  caused  the  natives  the  greater  suf- 
fering ;  for  to  sit,  even  in  a  thick  burnoose  or  two,  round  a  few 
embers  under  a  hole  in  the  roof,  the  thermometer  within  four 
degrees  of  freezing-point,  and  an  icy  wind  blowing  the  smoke 
down  into  the  dried-mud  lodging,  is  not  exactly  one's  idea  of 
comfort,  any  more  than  to  seek  repose  in  wet  sheets  in  com- 
panionship with  lively  scorpions.  But  these  are  extremes  and 
exceptional.  Leaving  the  villa  Landon  at  sunset,  we  strolled 
out  across  the  broad  river-bed,  over  the  high  banks,  on  which 
hung  straggling  masses  of  roots  in  an  intricate  net-work,  still 
covered  with  the  mud  that  a  torrent  had  deposited  upon  them. 
In  the  middle  of  the  dry  bed  of  the  stream,  furrowed  with  gul- 
lies which  still  held  puddles  of  water  here  and  there  between 
banks  of  round  stones,  stood,  on  a  slight  eminence,  the  khouba, 
or  tomb,  of  a  marabout.  Looking  towards  the  villa,  we  saw  the 
dense  grove  of  palms  looming  up  beyond  the  khouba  in  deep 
blue  fretwork  against  the  sky,  which  was  now  of  a  lurid  cop- 
per color,  as  if  the  worst  of  the  sirocco  was  yet  to  come  in  full 
blast;  farther  on,  the  vast  plain  melted  into  the  foot  of  the  ser- 
rated range  of  mountains,  now  left  in  a  deep  violet  gloom  after 
the  last  rays  of  a  red  sun  had  shed  a  glow  on  their  barren  pali- 


234  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

sades  like  the  intense  pink  of  a  watermelon.  While  crossing 
the  plain  we  heard  a  distant  rumbling  and  moaning,  like  that 
of  breakers  on  a  sea-shore  and  the  sighing  of  the  wind  among 
pines.  A  terrible  sand-storm,  we  thought.  What  meant  the 
ominous  black  cloud  that  seemed  to  be  an  approaching  hurri- 
cane moving  towards  us  from  the  horizon  ?  I  have  never  seen 
anything  more  weird  or  so  full  of  intensity  of  effect.  Making 
haste  towards  home,  we  met  the  mysterious  cloud,  from  which 
now  proceeded  the  familiar  sound  of  the  gurgling  noise  made 
by  camels.  There  were  five  hundred  of  them,  and  they  indeed 
seemed  like  "vessels  of  the  desert,"  swaying  their  gaunt  forms 
against  the  sky,  enveloping  themselves  and  their  drivers  in  a 
coating  of  dust.  They  were  divided  into  separate  hundreds,  and 
came  from  their  distant  pastures  to  camp  here  on  the  plain  on 
their  way  north,  whither  they  were  to  move  early  the  next  morn- 
ing. We  were  up  by  sunrise  to  see  the  mysterious  battalions 
of  the  night,  that  had  rested  on  the  plain  as  a  cloud  of  locusts 
would  settle  on  a  field  which  they  were  to  devour.  There  was 
but  scanty  grazing  for  the  immense  herd,  and  fodder  was  pro- 
cured at  Biskra.  The  appearance  of  their  camping-ground  can 
be  better  imagined  than  described.  The  camels*  were  crouch- 
ing, or  standing  with  one  fore-leg  folded  and  tied  so  that  they 
could  not  wander  far  without  being  easily  captured.  There  were 
baby  camels  almost  white,  and  young  camels  of  a  slightly  tawny 
color,  while  the  old  and  middle-aged  beasts  were  mostly  dark 
brown  or  nearly  black.  Imagine,  reader,  a  young  colt,  with  its 
long  legs  out  of  proportion,  wearing  pantaloons  of  sheepskin, 
and  with  the  neck  and  body  of  an  ostrich,  clad  in  the  same  short 

*  One  of  the  popular  errors  in  this  world  is  the  belief  that  a  dromedary- 
called  by  the  Arabs  "  Mahari  " — has  one  hump  and  the  camel  two.  They  may 
both  have  one  or  two,  but  the  dromedary  is  distinguished  from  the  camel  as 
the  race-horse  is  distinguished  from  the  ordinary  working-horse. 


SCENES    FROM   LIFE   IN   THE   SAHARA.  235 

curly  wool,  and  badly  fitted  to  these  legs,  and  you  will  form  an 
idea  of  these  innocent,  gawky  little  animals  staring  at  you  with 
big  round  black  eyes.  When  they  crouch,  lying  on  their  legs 
folded  under  them,  they  only  need  to  be  set  up  on  parchment 
bellows  to  make  a  perfect  representation  of  the  child's  toy  ani- 
mal, with  which  we  are  all  familiar.  The  keepers,  with  their 
families,  were  pulling  up  the  stakes  to  which  they  had  fastened 
ropes  to  hold  down  the  edges  of  their  tents,  pitched  for  the 
night.  The  pack-camels  were  being  laden  with  provisions  for 


CAMEL    AND    YOUNG,   BISKRA. 


a  long  day's  journey,  and  the  women  were  busy  arranging  their 
own  palanquins  in  which  they  were  to  travel.  There  was  noth- 
ing in  this  scene  to  recall  European  civilization,  except,  perhaps, 
a  red  handkerchief  of  familiar  pattern  and  some  printed  calico; 
yet  these  had  partaken  so  much  of  the  pervading  Bedouin  brown 
that  they  were  scarcely  noticeable ;  all  the  rest  was  as  primitive 
as  in  the  days  of  Abraham.  Ruths,  Rebeccas,  and  Hagars  ar- 
ranged the  howdahs  on  their  camels,  displaying  shoulders  and 


236  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

busts  like  Florentine  bronzes,  while  Reubens,  Isaacs,  and  Jo- 
sephs saddled  their  horses,  and  Benjamins  and  Ishmaels  assem- 
bled their  goats  and  kids  for  the  departure.  The  charming 
words  of  Guillaumet  occur  to  me  in  attempting  to  describe  this 
scene,  and  express  my  own  feelings : 

"  As  I  penetrated,"  he  writes,  "  into  the  intimacy  of  these 
noble  countries  stamped  with  the  simple  grandeur  of  the  prim- 
itive ages,  I  felt  that,  even  after  illustrious  predecessors,  it  was 
possible  to  see  things  in  a  different  way  from  theirs,  to  look 
at  them  from  a  less  romantic  point  of  view,  and  to  embody 
them  with  a  poetry  extracted  from  their  own  reality.  In  every- 
thing was  revived  in  my  eyes  the  plastic  beauty  of  antiquity ; 
the  finest  examples  of  the  nude  and  of  drapery  moved  daily 
round  about  me,  and  I  imagined  I  could  hear  the  patriarchs 
of  Genesis  talking  while  my  folios  were  being  filled  with 
sketches." 

Returning  from  the  camping-ground,  we  met  several  Arab 
prisoners  under  a  military  escort.  The  simple  and  effectual 
method  of  leading  them  is  by  means  of  a  strong  string  tied  in 
a  slip-noose  to  the  middle  fingers  so  that  any  resistance  tightens 
the  knot. 

During  the  day  there  was  to  be  a  grand  wedding  ceremo- 
ny, which  was  not  attended,  fortunately,  by  such  a  tragedy  as 
that  from  which  the  inhabitants  of  "  vieux  Biskra"  had  not  en- 
tirely recovered.  A  young  girl  possessing  a  large  dowry  had 
chosen  (I  say  had  chosen,  for  Arab  women,  when  rich,  do  not 
submit  to  the  arbitrary  custom  of  being  bargained  for)  a  young 
man  who  was  poor.  After  the  festivities  were  over  and  the 
marriage-knot  had  been  tied,  the  young  man  was  basely  assas- 
sinated, probably  by  a  jealous  hand. 

The  beating  of  drums,  tam-tams,  and  tambourines,  with  the 
strident  voices  chanting  in  chorus  in  a  high  and  minor  key, 


SCENES    FROM   LIFE   IN   THE   SAHARA.  237 

the  firing  of  guns  and  pistols,  and  the  penetrating  notes  of 
the  clarionets,  announced  the  departure  of  the  bride  from  her 
house.  Superb  trappings  and  housings  completely  concealed 
her,  and  the  tall  camel  which  bore  her  was  almost  hidden  from 
sight  by  long  fringes  and  enormous  tassels  slung  across  the 
animal's  chest  and  dangling  against  its  legs.  Friends  of  the 
bride  and  groom  pranced  on  horseback  about  the  palanquin 
and  round  the  gayly  caparisoned  horse  of  the  young  husband, 
playing  the  "  fantasia,"  throwing  their  slender  guns  in  the  air 
and  catching  them,  loading  and  firing  again  and  again,  leaving 
in  their  train  a  strong  smell  of  powder.  Crowds  of  children, 
and,  of  course,  the  everlasting  mischievous  boys  of  the  com- 
munity, were  in  full  force ;  the  little  toddlers  fluttered  about 
like  tropical  birds,  their  entire  costume  a  loose  gandoura  made 
of  chintz,  gaudy  in  color  and  stamped  with  such  big  patterns 
that  it  took  two  of  them — to  quote  a  wit — to  complete  the  de- 
sign ;  white  swans  amid  scroll-work,  lyre-birds  in  black  on  yellow 
ground,  ducks  and  animals,  moquette  carpet  designs,  such  as 
ramifications  of  foliage  running  over  the  shoulders ;  enormous 
roses,  and  a  tombstone  under  willows  of  flaming  red  in  the 
middle  of  the  back.  As  for  the  bride's  enjoyment  during  all 
this  ceremony,  she  would  certainly  prefer  to  be  anywhere  else. 
Not  only  is  she  encased  under  the  heavy  palanquin  for  an  hour 
or  several  hours  together,  but  her  whole  person  is  veiled ;  she 
must  neither  peep  out,  nor  show  even  a  finger  during  her  im- 
prisonment. 

The  bride  among  the  poorer  classes  is  still  treated  with  the 
respectful  usage  of  complete  concealment,  and  a  palanquin  of 
some  sort,  however  shaky,  is  borne  on  a  horse  or  mule.  Car- 
pets often  form  part  of  her  dowry,  and  they  are  given,  with  other 
woven  goods,  as  presents  for  the  occasion ;  these  are  made  use 
of  by  being  thrown  over  the  animal's  back  on  which  she  rides. 


238  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

In  our  trip  to  Tlem9en  we  have  given  other  details  of  marriage 
arrangements,  which  vary  but  little  throughout  the  country. 

The  same  day  we  witnessed  a  funeral  among  the  poor 
classes.  The  corpse  was  simply  wrapped  in  sheets,  and  the 
form  of  the  body  was  distinctly  seen ;  no  coffin,  no  draperies 
of  any  kind,  covered  it ;  tied  to  a  frame-wood  litter  and  strapped 
on  the  back  of  a  shaggy  mule,  it  produced  a  wofully  ghastly 
appearance  under  the  hot  sun  and  dust.  Pestilence,  cholera, 
were  the  first  black  apprehensions  that  crossed  my  mind,  and 
I  let  the  funeral  pass  at  a  respectful  distance.  A  number  of 
men  led  the  procession,  chanting  dolefully,  and  a  small  con- 
course followed,  among  which  were  the  paid  mourners,  mostly 
a  set  of  old  hags,  who  continued  to  make  not  night,  but  even 
sunlight,  hideous  by  their  wailings.  After  the  body  had  been 
laid  in  the  grave,  covered  with  earth,  and  a  stone  placed  at  the 
head  and  foot,  the  women  returned  through  the  town  and  con- 
tinued their  groans.  At  times  they  shuffled  along  and  talked 
in  a  rational  way;  then  they  would  stop  suddenly,  and  with 
perhaps  a  signal  from  the  leader,  or  else  by  a  simultaneous 
understanding,  such  as  the  Shakers  have,  would  form  them- 
selves in  a  circle,  twelve  to  sixteen  in  number,  and  bejnn  a 

o 

dirge,  moaning,  whimpering,  and  screaming,  accompanying  their 
sighs  with  nods  to  their  neighbors  in  mock  misery,  first  to  the 
right,  then  to  the  left,  with  idiotic  gestures  resembling  those  of 
geese  while  holding  a  general  consultation.  This  was  not  all ; 
they  scratched  their  faces  with  their  nails,  often  bringing  blood, 
and  the  more  salary  they  received  the  more  violent  their  dem- 
onstrations. It  was  most  amusing  after  their  last  exhibition 
of  grief  to  see  them  disband  and  move  off  to  attend  to  their 
own  affairs,  rearranging  their  dishevelled  hair  and  turbans, 
laughing  and  cackling  as  if  nothing  had  happened. 

One  of  the  local  celebrities  was  a  very  old  negro  musician, 


SCENES    FROM    LIFE   IN   THE   SAHARA. 


239 


whose  extraordinary  aspect  was  more  that  of  a  gnome,  a  Blue- 
beard, or  a  Croquemitaine,  who  holds  the  minds  of  children  in  a 
state  of  awe  rather  than  that  of  a  clown  who  amuses  them.  His 
forefathers  must  have  handed  down  to  the  present  generation 
one  relic  of  past  ages,  a 
conception  of  the  Evil  Spir- 
it, such  as  might  have  been 
attributed  to  a  savage  tribe 
of  Central  Africa,  or  to  the 
most  remote  and  least  civ- 
ilized South  Sea  Islanders. 
And  the  idea  was  embod- 
ied in  an  enormous  mask 
of  diabolical  expression,  of 
which  he  was  the  maker,  if 
not  the  inventor.  It  was 
made  of  some  animal's  skin, 
wrinkled  and  discolored,  the 
teeth  of  shells,  the  hair  and 
beard  of  palm  fibre  stained 
red  with  henna;  bits  of 
looking-glass  and  paint  did 
the  rest.  A  picturesque 
scene  was  enacted  one  day 

in  a  court-yard  amid  palm-trees,  in  which  this  old  character 
was  the  head-musician,  improvising  comical  verses  in  short  and 
jerky  metre,  and  chanting  them  in  a  manner  that  created  much 
amusement.  Several  Ouled-Nahil  women  glided  about  as  if 
rolled  on  wheels,  waving  their  arms  and  sweeping  the  dust  with 
their  ample  draperies  trailing  on  the  ground.  Whether  through 
a  feeling  of  thanksgiving  or  simply  to  give  vent  to  overflowing 
joy  it  was  difficult  to  ascertain,  but  after  the  dance,  as  in  all 


THE    MASKED   VIRTUOSE,   BISKRA. 


240  WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 

cases  where  the  old  musician  had  received  gratuities  for  his 
performances,  he  retired  quite  alone  some  distance  from  the 
town,  and  there  he  enjoyed  a  jig  all  to  himself,  extemporizing 
and  beating  his  own  accompaniments  on  his  drum. 

My  friend  S.,  besides  being  an  artist,  was  a  musician  of  rare 
talent,  and  we  never  did  anything  wiser  than  take  with  us  on 
this  journey  to  the  Sahara  our  volumes  of  Spohr  and  Viotti  for 
two  violins,  not  only  as  a  precious  resource  for  our  recreation, 
but  for  the  pastime,  if  not  pleasure,  that  we  afforded  to  others. 
We  never  had  enjoyed  such  renown,  and  probably  never  shall 
again,  and  we  two  might  have  shown  our  appreciation  of  ap- 
plause by  retiring  to  the  desert  and  dancing,  like  the  illustrious 
maestro  above  mentioned. 

Our  large  room  possessed  marvellous  acoustic  properties, 
which  magnified  our  efforts  to  the  dignity  of  a  grand  orchestra, 
and  it  was  difficult  to  keep  an  audience  away.  The  Arab  gallery 
listened  with  more  curiosity  than  admiration,  and  used  to  ask 
when  we  were  to  begin  our' "sawing  on  the  crin-crin."  An 
officer  and  constant  attendant  actually  and  repeatedly  shed  tears 
over  a  favorite  adagio  from  Spohr,  and  through  him  we  wrere 
invited  to  the  Catholic  church  to  play  at  high  mass  one  Sun- 
day morning.  The  reader  must  remember  that  we  were  in  the 
desert  and  that  music  is  not  easily  to  be  found,  and  is  appre- 
ciated accordingly.  The  good  old  cure  was  also  moved  to 
tears,  and  was  not  the  only  one  who  showered  compliments  on 
us.  Many  members  of  the  congregation  came  to  thank  us  for 
supplementing  the  short-winded  organ,  whose  wheezing  asth- 
matic tendency  was  aggravated  by  every' return  of  the  sirocco. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

AN    IMPORTANT    OASIS. 

SIDI  OKBA,  the  oasis  situated   about  fifteen  miles  from 
our  headquarters,  offers  the  quaint  interest  so  character- 
istic of  the  desert  villages,  but  aside  from  that  feature  it  is 
miserable  and  forlorn  enough,  although  of  great  importance  to 
the  Arab  mind  as  beino;  the  religious  centre  of  this  region,  called 

o  o  o 

the  Ziban,  of  which  Biskra  is  the  political  capital.  Sidi  Okba  is 
governed  by  an  amiable  Cai'd,  whose  well-known  hospitality  was 
one  of  the  inducements  held  out  to  us  to  visit  it.  We  wished 
our  reception  to  be  thoroughly  cordial,  and  furnished  ourselves 
with  abundant  provisions  that  we  might  ask  the  Cai'd  to  break- 
fast with  us  instead  of  making  a  surprise -party  for  him  at 
his  expense;  for  during  several  seasons  his  generosity  in  receiv- 
ing tourists,  offering  them  the  fat  of  the  land  in  copious  lunch- 
eons (thus  showing  his  conciliatory  sentiments  towards  the 
French),  had  been  frequently  imposed  upon  to  a  considerable 
extent.  His  income  is  a  tenth  or  fifteenth  of  the  produce  of  the 
oasis,  amounting  to  about  three  thousand  francs  a  year,  which  is 
not  much,  even  in  the  Sahara,  for  a  young  man  of  thirty-three 
who  dresses  well  and  entertains  visitors.  After  the  usual  formal- 
ities of  welcome  and  salutations,  we  left  our  host  to  allow  him  an 
opportunity,  while  we  visited  the  town,  of  giving  orders  concern- 
ing our  mid-day  repast  as  well  as  for  his  more  important  duties 
of  attending  to  the  numerous  difficulties  and  complaints  he  had 


242  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

to  settle  between  the  natives  who  were  waiting  their  turn  to  con- 
sult him. 

The  mosque  at  Sidi  Okba  is  spoken  of  as  being  the  most 
ancient  Mohammedan  building  in  Africa,  which  is  saying  a  good 
deal,  considering  the  material  of  which  it  is  built;  mud,  clay, 
stone,  and  wood,  as  usual,  but  wonderfully  preserved  by  the 
extreme  dryness  of  the  atmosphere.  The  remains  of  the  illus- 
trious warrior  and  marabout,  Okba,  are  interred  in  the  mosque, 
under  a  khouba,  and  screened  off  in  one  corner.  Many  hun- 
dred years  ago  he  headed  an  expedition  to  conquer  Africa,  and 
after  extending  "  his  conquest  from  Egypt  to  Tangiers,  he 
spurred  his  horse  into  the  Atlantic,  and  declared  that  only- 
such  a  barrier  could  prevent  him  from  forcing  every  nation  be- 
yond it  who  knew  not  God  to  worship  him  only  or  die." 

We  accomplished  all  the  sight-seeing;  and  having  been  jolt- 
ed and  cramped  in  a  small  vehicle  for  two  hours  before  arriv- 
ing, we  became  thoroughly  exhausted  for  want  of  food,  and 
returned  to  the  Cai'd's  house  to  smell  our  breakfast  if  we  could 
not  taste  it,  and  were  shown  into  the  garden  surrounded  by  a 
high  wall.  The  verdure  was  confined  to  a  few  patches  of  vege- 
tables, a  few  young  lemon  and  lime  trees,  and  a  labyrinth  of  tall 
bamboo,  sear  and  yellow,  affording  no  shade  save  for  lizards 
and  scorpions.  The  only  dense  shade  of  foliage  was  under  an 
immense  orange -tree,  where  an  arbor  was  formed  of  palm 
branches  over  which  grew  vines  and  creepers,  the  latter  with 
flowers  something  like  the  morning-glory.  Carpets  and  matting 
were  spread,  and  on  three  sides  of  the  tree  a  divan  was  formed 
of  rugs  and  various  cushions,  of  which  several  were  of  Touarez 
make.  The  leather  made  by  this  tribe  for  the  purpose  men- 
tioned is  stained  red  or  yellow,  and  patterns  are  pointed  in 
black;  but  the  peculiarity  of  the  design  is  that  it  is  formed  by 
cutting  the  leather  with  a  sharp  knife  and  peeling  off  thin 


AN   IMPORTANT  OASIS. 


243 


strips  and  tiny  squares  where  it  is  required  to  show  the  natural 
colors  of  the  material.  The  artistic  contingent  numbered  five, 
the  tourist  two,  the  military  two,  and  with  the  Cai'd  and  his 
friend  the  Cadi,  we  were  eleven  seated  round  a  large  platter 
on  which  were  placed  some  of  the  dishes  offered  by  us  from 
the  hampers  we  had  brought.  The  good-natured  Cai'd  insisted 
upon  having  made  for  our  special  benefit  a  huge  dish  of  kous- 
kous.  The  dessert,  whether  it  was  owing  to  the  fact  of  its 
being  totally  unexpected  under  such  circumstances  and  in  such 
a  place,  in  any  other  form  except  that  of  dates,  oranges,  and 
figs,  was  a  delicate  attention  on  the  part  of  our  host,  and  a 
most  agreeable  surprise  to  us.  Little  cakes  and  candies  of 
round  and  pyramidal  form  were  concocted  from  kernels  from 
the  pine  cone  burr,  cocoanut,  honey,  milk,  and  what  else  I  am 
not  sure;  but  they  seemed  to  possess  a  delicacy  of  flavor  of 
which  Siraudin  or  Boissier  (Paris  candy- makers)  might  have 
been  proud.  Over  the  coffee,  and  in  clouds  of  tobacco-smoke, 
the  conversation  turned  on  the  conversion  of  certain  tracts  of 
the  desert  into  an  inland  sea,  a  subject  in  which  the  Cai'd  took 
much  interest ;  then,  with  much  shaking  of  hands,  we  took  leave 
of  our  cordial  host,  and  departed  from  the  village. 


CHAPTER   XXXV. 

EXCURSION   INTO  THE   DESERT. 

THE  day  for  starting  on  our  long-anticipated  excursion 
of  several  days  to  the  south-west  was  finally  fixed  upon, 
and  we  were  not  sorry  for  a  change  from  our  dirty  hotel 

even  at  the  risk  of  finding  much  worse.     Captain  F ,  of  the 

Chasseurs  d'Afrique,  organized  the  party,  which  included  our 
artistic  band  of  five.  He  furnished  the  horses,  mules  to  carry 
provisions,  and  four  soldiers  to  look  after  them  as  well  as  to  do 
our  cooking  and  wait  on  us  generally,  besides  a  sheik  who  ac- 
companied us  as  guide  and  interpreter.  Before  the  break  of 
day  the  orderlies  had  gone  before  us,  and  we  left  at  five 
o'clock,  burdened  only  with  our  sketching  material,  which  we 
kept  with  us,  so  as  to  have  it  always  at  hand. 

The  path  we  followed  lay  on  an  elevated  slope,  evidently 
formed  by  the  washing  away  of  the  crumbling  hills  on  the 
north  during  long  ages.  We  skirted  the  hills  for  two  hours. 
Until  the  sun  had  risen  the  morning  air  was  chilly,  but  now 
our  overcoats  were  rolled  and  strapped  to  the  saddle,  and  we 
disposed  of  all  the  clothing  we  could  get  rid  of  conveniently, 
for  the  heat  was  intense.  The  sensation,  however,  was  some- 
what that  of  roasting  one's  self  before  the  fire,  for  the  air  was 
so  pure  and  dry  that  we  did  not  feel  enervated.  All  along  the 
high  plateau  over  which  we  travelled  there  was  vegetation  of  the 
alfa  grass,  brier,  aloes,  cactus,  and  dwarf-palm  order,  affording 


EXCURSION    INTO    THE   DESERT. 


245 


meagre  pasture  for  camels,  of  which  we  occasionally  saw  a 
small  number,  watched  by  a  boy  sunning  himself  on  a  boul- 
der or  in  a  nest  he  had  made  for  himself  in  a  drift  of  deep 
yellow  sand. 

Our  horses  were  thoroughbred  Arabs,  and  could  walk  and 
amble  about  forty  miles  a  day  for  weeks  in  succession  without 


"ARAB." 

fatigue ;  but  for  our  short  stages  we  indulged  occasionally  in  a 
spurt  at  full  gallop,  especially  to  make  a  favorable  impression  as 
we  neared  the  different  villages.  We  accomplished  thirty-six 
kilometres,  or  twenty-two  and  a  half  miles,  by  eleven  o'clock,  and 
our  first  halt  was  at  Lichana,  which  village  presented  a  different 
aspect  from  anything  we  had  seen.  The  peculiar  character  of  this 

15 


246  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

oasis  lay  in  the  very  tall  and  slender  palm-trees,  and  in  the  color 
of  the  usual  mud  structures,  which  wore  a  bleached  complexion, 
almost  white.  The  precious  date-palms  were  enclosed  by  high 
'walls,  between  which  wound  serpentine  and  narrow  passage- 
ways, apparently  never  intended  to  receive  the  impression  of  a 
conveyance  on  wheels.  The  Cai'd,  to  whom  our  first  salutations 
were  due,  and  to  whom  we  had  a  letter  of  introduction,  came 
out  to  meet  us,  having  been  notified  by  our  guide,  who  had  gone 
on  ahead  of  us  a  short  time  previous  to  our  arrival  at  the  oasis. 
We  followed  the  Cai'd,  single  file,  through  the  narrow  alley-ways 
and  black  tunnels,  keeping  our  heads  low  to  avoid  the  beams 
above,  and  guided  only  by  the  light  at  the  farther  end.  On 
hearing  the  echoes  of  our  cavalcade  the  women  hid  their  faces, 
and  scampered  into  their  houses,  which  looked  out  into  the 
black  passages.  Their  dwellings  received  light  only  from  their 
own  terraces  and  down  stair-ways  leading  to  an  upper  story, 
the  latter  extending  over  the  tunnels — an  economy  of  space, 
and  at  the  same  time  a  place  of  refuge  from  the  broiling  sun 
in  summer.  Then  we  would  come  to  the  open  sky  again  and 
feel  the  stifling  heat  of  mid -day.  Our  host  was  young  and 
fair,  but  was  hardly  to  be  distinguished  from  the  ordinary  Arab 
either  by  dress  or  by  his  very  limited  knowledge  of  the  French 
language.  His  reception  was  amicable,  and  he  invited  us  to 
take  coffee  with  him.  We  accepted  his  invitation  after  having 
breakfasted  hastily  under  our  tent,  pitched  by  the  soldiers  in  a 
large  grove  outside  the  walls  of  the  town,  where  our  horses  could 
rest,  enjoy  their  oats,  and  drink  at  the  narrow  stream  running 
through  a  mud-lined  channel.  As  soon  as  etiquette  would  allow, 
we  excused  ourselves  to  the  Cai'd  to  visit  the  mosque,  of  charm- 
ing interest.  Heavy  round  arches  of  whitewashed  clay  stood 
upon  rude  columns  that  looked  as  if  they  had  been  fashioned  by 
throwing  the  material  together  from  a  distance  rather  than  by 


EXCURSION   INTO  THE   DESERT.  247 

any  careful  trowelling.  Several  pillars  of  limestone,  with  rude 
capitals,  probably  Roman,  were  used  in  the  building,  and  were 
worn  quite  smooth  from  being  constantly  leaned  against.  There 
was  not  wealth  enough  in  the  community  to  furnish  matting  all' 
over  the  floor,  or  rather  ground.  More  than  half  the  mosque 
was  not  used,  and  the  impalpable  dust  lay  several  inches  thick 
round  the  base  of  the  columns  farthest  removed  from  the  mim- 
bar  or  pulpit.  This  shaky  structure,  a  wooden  stair-way  leading 
to  a  stand,  and  fenced  in  by  curious  crossbars  for  balustrades, 
had  been  originally  painted  green,  the  holy  color.  It  seemed 
now  too  dilapidated  to  bear  the  weight  of  the  mufti  (high-priest 
and  religious  governor  of  the  mosque),  whom  we  saw  at  one 
o'clock,  a  perfect  Moses  with  long  silky  and  undulating  white 
beard,  and  flowing  locks  hanging  on  his  shoulders.  '  He  was 
dressed  all  in  white,  and  ran  through  his  fingers  a  long  string  of 
beads  while  he  recited  verses  from  the  Koran  to  a  few  of  the 
faithful  Bedouin  travellers,  gathered  in  a  half-circle  about  him. 
The  alcove,  scarcely  three  feet  deep,  where  he  had  ensconced 
himself  for  a  good  part  of  the  day,  was  ornamented  with  twist- 
ed and  painted  columns  at  the  edges;  and  above  on  the  white 
walls  were  various  square  patterns  and  scroll-work,  painted 
in  vivid  colors  to  take  the  place  of  tiles.  The  little  windows 
were  of  fascinating  design,  each  one  different,  and  here  and 
there  were  enlivened  with  bits  of  stained  glass  between  the 
open-work — a  remnant  of  better  days  that  the  mosque  and  vil- 
lage had  seen  before  the  French  occupation. 

The  people  here  brought  a  great  deal  of  misery  on  them- 
selves through  their  doomed  determination  to  resist  the  French 

^j  *— >d? 

invasion.  The  ruins  of  Zaatcha,  near  our  tent,  afforded  the 
most  doleful  picture  of  the  consequences.  It  was  a  small 
place,  as  far  as  the  number  of  inhabitants  was  concerned 
(there  were  only  four  hundred),  but  the  fort  and  high  walls 


248 


WINTERS   IN    ALGERIA. 


MOSQUE  OF    LICHANA. 


sheltered  three  thousand  Arabs,  who  had  congregated  there 
from  surrounding  localities.  They  resisted  the  attacks  of  the 
French  for  fifty-two  days,  until  the  latter,  expecting  an  easy 
victory  at  the  outset,  were  obliged  to  wait  for  reinforcements, 
defending  themselves  during  the  delay  in  a  fortification  and  in- 
trenchment  at  a  short  distance  from  the  natives.  At  the  end  of 
the  time  mentioned  the  fort  was  compelled  to  surrender,  and 
only  one  Arab  made  his  escape ;  all  the  inhabitants  not  killed 
were  taken  prisoners. 

This  is  the  account  as  given  by  a  veteran  who  accompanied 
us  over  the  ruins.  He  had,  according  to  his  statement,  tried  to 
conciliate  his  brethren,  taking  the  side  of  the  French,  but  the 
former  would  listen  to  nothing:  but  resistance  to  the  last  man. 


CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

TOLGA  AND   NEIGHBORING  VILLAGES. 

TOLGA  and  neighboring  villages  were  the  objects  of  our 
excursion  the  following  morning.  We  left  our  camp  at 
five  o'clock,  in  good  spirits ;  there  was  more  breeze,  and 
fleecy  clouds  streaked  the  sky,  veiling,  as  smoked  glass  would 
do,  the  glare  and  heat  of  the  sun  for  an  hour  after  it  rose. 
We  were  now  on  lower  ground  than  the  first  day,  crossing  a 
flat  plain  where  wide  furrows  in  a  series  of  rounded  elevations 
showed  cultivation  of  parts  of  the  desert  which  yielded  grain, 
and  of  others  where  the  labor  was  apparently  lost.  At  rare 
intervals  we  passed  isolated  palms  and  small  khotibas.  In 
two  or  three  instances  these  tombs  showed  signs  of  being 
frequently  visited  by  pilgrims,  and  a  small  space  of  hard 
ground,  whitewashed,  was  enclosed  by  a  low  wall  of  not  more 
than  two  feet  high,  with  here  and  there  a  tombstone  to  indicate 
the  burial-place  either  of  a  descendant  of  the  marabout,  whose 
ashes  had  reposed  in  the  unmolested  khouba  for  centuries  past, 
or  of  some  saintly  thaleb  (scholar  and  teacher  versed  in  the 
Koran).  At  some  distance,  and  quite  apart  from  the  tomb  and 
its  precincts,  stood  a  solitary  tower,  about  ten  feet  high,  in  the 
form  of  a  pulpit ;  that  is,  a  small  terrace  surrounded  by  a  low 
balustrade  of  clay  and  reached  by  a  dqzen  steps.  Evidently 
this  served  as  a  stand  from  which  the  mufti  could  address  the 
concourse  of  pilgrims  on  certain  days  of  the  year. 


250 


WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 


In  this  strange  land  news  travels  fast,  and  by  means  un- 
known to  the  traveller.  We  had  letters  to  the  sheiks  of  the 
oases  we  intended  visiting — that  is,  to  the  chiefs,  when  there  is 
no  personage  of  the  higher  rank  of  cai'd — but  all  Tolga  seemed 
to  know  of  our  arrival  long  before  our  interpreter  went  ahead 
of  us  to  deliver  our  introduction  to  its  governor.  No  sooner 

had    we     dismounted, 
leaving  our  horses  near 


the  2fates  of  the  town 

O 

— for  this  place  seem- 
ed to  have  been  pro- 
tected from  incursions 
on  all  sides  by  high 
walls  —  than  we  were 
escorted  by  several 
Arabs  of  rank  to  the 
Zaouia  (zowya),  or  holy 
city.  As  in  Lichana, 

we  passed  through  dark  tunnels  and  serpentine  alley -ways 
communicating  between  the  streets,  but  what  was  our  sur- 
prise after  stumbling  and  groping  through  a  tortuous  pas- 
sage, narrower  and  blacker  than  all  the  other  tunnels,  and 
stooping  low — for  in  places  the  ceiling  was  only  four  feet  from 
the  ground — at  finding  ourselves  suddenly  in  a  large  open 
court  of  blinding  brilliancy !  The  sheik  welcomed  us  with 
much  suavity  of  manner,  and  waved  his  hand  in  the  direction 
of  a  low  table  which  stood  under  the  colonnade  on  a  large 
square  of  clean  and  yellow  matting,  worn  glossy  by  having 
been  trodden  on  by  bare  feet  only.  I  am  not  aware  that  there 
is  anything  holy  about  a  piece  of  matting,  as  many  people 
suppose,  except  within  a  sacred  enclosure  such  as  a  mosque  or 
khouba,  but  the  Arabs  always  remove  their  shoes  for  the  same 


COVERED    WAY    AT    TOLGA. 


TOLGA   AND    NEIGHBORING   VILLAGES.  251 

reason  that  we  take  off  our  hat  in-doors,  and  for  their  own 
comfort.  On  the  table,  or  rather  broad  stand  with  short  legs, 
had  been  placed  large  dishes  of  delicious  dates,  fresh  from 
the  trees,  figs,  and  bowls  of  milk  both  fresh  and  sour.  The 
latter  is  often  preferred  by  the  Arabs.  We  required  little  press- 
ing to  help  ourselves  to  the  fresh  milk  and  dates,  a  combina- 
tion that  seemed  delicious,  especially  as  we  had  tasted  nothing 
since  five  o'clock  that  morning.  Coffee  was  afterwards  served ; 
but  we  were  requested  not  to  smoke  within  the  sacred  court, 
with  which  request  those  who  remained  of  course  complied; 
while  the  explorers,  with  the  sheik,  went  out  into  the  village  to 
enjoy  a  pipe  together.  We  spent  an  hour  or  two  in  the  Zaouia 
sketching,  as  permission  was  readily  given ;  none  but  the 
younger  boys  among  the  scholars  who  were  studying  the  Ko- 
ran and  reciting  in  the  court  took  any  notice  whatever  of  our 
presence.  A  continuous  and  deafening  din  of  perhaps  sixty 
scholars,  each  one  trying  to  drown  the  other  in  order  to  hear 
his  own  recitation  and  to  strengthen  his  voice,  resounded  and 
echoed  from  all  sides.  One  old  teacher  seemed  to  have  every 
faculty  affected  by  somnolence  except  that  of  detecting  a  fault 
uttered  by  a  pupil  in  his  recitation  however  rapidly  it  flowed, 
and  with  a  lonq-  wand  he  would  reach  over  and  touch  the 

O 

student  as  a  hint  to  him  to  recommence  the  verse,  partially 
raising  his  heavy  eyelids  a  moment,  to  close  them  and  nod 
again.  The  pupils  sat  round  in  groups  in  the  shade  of  the 
rudely  constructed  colonnades,  under  which,  in  quaint  corners 
and  niches,  were  little  doors  leading  to  humble  lodgings  oc- 
cupied by  the  several  old  quasi-canonized  professors;  for  Tolga 
seemed  to  be  considered  the  college  for  Koran  instruction  of 
the  surrounding  country.  At  one  side,  brilliant  with  fresh 
whitewash  and  paint,  stood  a  large  khouba,  with  a  dome  in  the 
middle  and  triangular  ornaments  at  the  corners,  covering  a 


252  WINTERS   IN  ALGERIA. 

shrine,  which  could  be  seen  through  the  latticed  windows,  hung 
with  the  usual  honors  in  the  way  of  banners,  ostrich  eggs,  and 
mirrors. 

Tolga  the  village,  outside  of  the  sacred  precincts,  bore  the 
same  ancient  and  dilapidated  appearance  as  Lichana,  and  even 
as  Zaatcha,  in  certain  quarters  where  the  houses,  although  still 
inhabited,  were  almost  in  ruins,  and  there  was  not  sufficient 
enterprise  to  be  found  among  the  inhabitants  to  clear  away 
the  piles  of  rubbish  that  must  have  continued  to  accumulate 
since  the  conquest  of  1840.  There  were  no  signs  of  new 
buildings ;  only  here  and  there  a  new  shutter  or  new  plank  in 
a  door,  a  strip  of  fresh  matting  in  front  of  a  cafe,  and  a  dab 
of  whitewash  once  a  year  round  the  door-jamb  of  the  mosque, 
with  as  much  spattering  on  the  ground  as  on  the  portions  of 
the  structure  for  which  it  was  intended.  The '  whitewashing 

O 

seemed  to  be  the  only  attempt  at  decoration,  and  the  repairs 
mentioned,  the  only  attempts  at  improvement.  The  mosque  in 
the  centre  of  the  village  stood  on  high  ground,  forming  a  small 
public  square,  the  surface  being  flush  with  a  wall  about  ten  feet 
high,  which  was  almost  entirely  constructed  of  very  large  blocks 
of  hewn  stone  of  Roman  origin,  worn  smooth  and  dark  brqwri 
by  the  thousands  of  burnooses  that  had  leaned  against  them  in 
the  street  below.  The  sanctuary  itself  was  of  the  same  char- 
acter as  the  place  of  worship  at  Lichana.  . 

The  familiar  clatter  and  mumbling  of  a  school-room  attract- 
ed our  attention,  and  we  peeped  in,  as  the  door  opened  into 
the  street.  In  the  centre  of  the  class  stood  a  grinning  and 
jabbering  idiot  playing  all  sorts  of  tricks  with  the  other  boys, 
throwing  mud  pellets  and  wisps  of  straw  at  them,  to  which  they 
paid  no  attention.  He  was  perfectly  nude,  and  as  ugly  as  can 
be  well  imagined,  a  monstrosity  of  human  form ;  but  as  his  in- 
tellect was  believed  to  have  been  retained  by  the  Creator,  what- 


TOLGA   AND   NEIGHBORING  VILLAGES.  2^1 

*J  O 

ever  he  did  was  tolerated,  and  he  was  respected  as  a  being  of  a 
higher  order.  In  fact,  the  harmless  idiots  of  this  category  en- 
joy rare  privileges,  as  it  would  be  considered  contrary  to  the 
will  of  the  Almighty  to  cross  them  in  their  freaks  and  desires. 
This  ill-formed  creature  ran  out  to  us  and  grinned  amicably 
enough,  but  hideously,  and  when  we  gave  him  a  few  sous  he 
took  them  indifferently.  It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  consideration 
that  the  insane  seldom  if  ever  reach  the  stasje  of  ra<nno:  mad- 

o  o      o 

ness  in  this  country.     Is  it  because  they  are  treated  kindly? 

Before  mounting  our  horses  we  desired  to  see  something  of 
the  interior  life  of  Tolga,  and  our  guide  took  us  to  an  interest- 
ing interior  to  see  women  weaving  carpets,  ornamented  ha'iks, 
blankets,  and  horse-coverings.  This  manufacture  was  one  of 
the  principal  industries  of  the  locality,  for  I  doubt  whether  the 
wheat  and  date  crops  were  abundant  enough  to  promote  much 
commercial  enterprise.  All  these  villages  seemed  to  consume 
their  own  scanty  produce.  The  woven  articles,  however,  were 
beautifully  made,  and  sold  at  good  prices.  At  an  upright  loom 
were  seated  two  women  working  in  the  most  primitive  manner 
possible ;  while  one  of  them  unwound  the  skeins  of  wool  and 
prepared  them  for  convenience,  the  other  woman  passed  the 
end  of  the  thread  through  the  upright  strings  of  the  woof, 
which  were  spread  apart  by  a  long  and  movable  bamboo.  She 
did  not  pass  it  with  a  shuttle,  which  goes  like  lightning  in  our 
modern  inventions,  but  with  her  fingers;  and  when  she  had 
passed  the  thread  several  times,  leaving  it  loose  instead  of  pull- 
ing  it  through  tightly,  a  large  iron  comb  was  used  to  pack  it 
down.  This  loose  placing  of  the  thread  accounts  for  the  thick- 
ness and  irregularity  which  we  notice  in  all  Eastern  rugs; 
whereas  the  machine-made  imitations  of  Oriental  carpets  look 
thin,  papery,  and  poor  in  substance. 

Throuo-h  our  interpreters  pressing  persuasion— on  a  finan- 


254  WINTERS    IN   ALGERIA. 

cial  basis — we  were  admitted  to  another  interior,  where  we  saw 
a  charming  family  scene.  He  requested  the  inmates  to  con- 
tinue eating  their  kouskous  as  they  were.  They  sat  in  a  cir- 
cle, young  and  old,  grandfather,  grandmother,  father,  wife,  and 
several  children,  all  dipping  into  the  wooden  dish  which  stood 
on  its  own  pedestal  in  their  midst.  Kids  and  young  dogs 
were  also  poking  their  noses  under  the  children's  arms,  look- 


INTERTOR    AT   LTCHANA. 


ing  with  longing  eyes  of  expectancy.  Their  horse,  a  fine  gray 
Arab,  was  eating  his  grass  near  them,  his  feet  fettered  to  the 
ground,  close  by  the  black  hole  just  big  enough  to  accommo- 
date him,  which  was  on  one  side  of  the  humble  dwelling,  and 
in  which  he  could  be  kept  by  a  rope  across  the  entrance. 
Streaks  of  sunlight,  making  solid  beams  of  the  blue  smoke, 


TOLGA   AND    NEIGHBORING   VILLAGES. 


255 


fell  on  a  multitude  of  utensils  of  all  sorts.  There  was  a  hand- 
mill  made  of  two  flat  and  round  granite  stones,  the  top  stone 
turning  on  a  pivot  by  a  handle  on  one  side,  and  placed  on  a 
sheepskin,  which  caught  the  yellow  flour. 

Fafare  and  El-Amri  were  the  limits  of  our  excursion ;  one  a 
luxuriant  garden,  the  other  a  desert  in  every  sense  of  the  word. 
The  closely  planted  palm-trees  at  the  former  flourishing  oasis 
surpassed  in  opulence  any  that  I  have  ever  seen ;  their  branches 
afforded  a  shade  almost  impenetrable  to  the  sun's  rays;  the  bark 
was  of  a  healthy  burnt -sienna  hue,  and  the  immense  size  of 
the  trees  was  due  to  the  care  taken  in  irrigating  them.  Deep 
ditches  filled  with  water  surrounded  their  roots.  The  water 
was  green  and  turbid,  for  it  was  only  turned  on  every  seventeen 
days.  Grape-vines,  honeysuckles,  and  creepers  twined  round 
the  trunks,  and  clung  to  the  thick  fig-trees.  Pink  and  white 
oleanders,  rose-bushes,  and  cacti  grew  in  the  small  canals,  where 
the  mud  was  kept  wet  .by  occasional  watering.  Here  we  rested 
for  a  short  time,  as  the  thermometer  marked  95°  Fahrenheit  in 
the  shade.  But  in  order  to  finish  our  roamings  and  return  to 
our  camp  at  Lichana  before  night,  we  rode  on  to  El-Amri.  On 
several  occasions,  in  passing  under  the  palm  grove  at  a  gallop, 
our  horses,  regardless  of  their  riders,  followed  the  path  which 
ran  close  to  the  leaning  trunks.  Not  being  anxious  to  play 
Absalom,  I,  for  one,  proposed  that  we  let  our  steeds  walk.  It 
was  not  long  before  we  were  within  the  mosque  of  El-Amri, 
quenching  our  thirst  from  the  cold  well  of  clear  water,  the  only 
luxury,  I  am  tempted  to  assert,  that  existed  in  this  poverty- 
stricken  spot.  The  water  is  drawn  up  with  buckets  and  poured 
into  long  troughs,  where  the  Mohammedans  drink  and  perform 
their  customary  ablutions  before  entering  the  mosque.  Now 
that  I  wish  to  put  on  record  the  aspect  of  this  place,  although 
I  can  see  it  in  my  mind's  eye,  there  seems  nothing  to  describe. 


256  WINTERS    IN    ALGERIA. 

A  barren  desert,  deserted  streets,  and  half-ruined  dwellings  par- 
titioned off  behind  long  low  walls,  all  of  dust  and  clay,  with 
palm  trunk  and  branches  of  the  same  uniform  color;  a  public 
square  where  there  is  nothing ;  a  shed  open  on  all  sides,  which 
is  supposed  to  be  a  Djemaa,  or  club,  where  the  natives  assem- 
ble to  talk  over  the  events  of  the  day;  but  there  seemed  to  be 
no  natives  to  assemble,  or  if  there  were,  they  were  all  asleep ; 
no  children  to  run  after  us  for  backsheesh.  The  two  or  three 
old  inhabitants  whom  we  did  see  wore  burnooses  and  turbans 
of  the  same  color  as  the  earth,  and  they  sat  nibbling  at  a  hand- 
ful of  dry  dates.  The  keeper  of  the  mosque  told  us  that  few  or 
none  of  the  inhabitants  used  tobacco,  as  they  could  not  afford 
the  luxury.  This  was,  indeed,  a  province  of  the  Inferno;  but 
my  friend  contended,  when  the  question  arose  as  to  happiness, 
that  these  beings  were  more  happy  than  we ;  they  possess  noth- 
ing, and  want  nothing,  because  they  know  of  nothing  better 
than  their  way  of  spending  an  existence. 


CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

EXPERIENCE   IN  A  SAND-STORM. 

AL  that  was  needed  now  to  complete  our  Saharian  ex- 
perience was  another  sirocco,  with  which  we  would 
willingly  have  dispensed ;  but  an  irritating  dryness  in 
the  atmosphere  as  we  were  nearing  our  tent  at  Lichana  became, 
later  in  the  evening,  unmistakable.  We  had  had  a  hard  day 
of  it,  and  retired  early,  for  we  were  to  be  up  at  sunrise  next 
morning  in  order  to  reach  Biskra  before  mid-day  breakfast.  At 
midnight  the  storm  announced  its  approach  by  a  terrific  roar- 
ing through  the  palm  grove.  Our  soldiers'  tent  collapsed  over 
them,  and  they  came  to  steady  our  own,  which  seemed  threat- 
ened with  destruction.  They  tightened  the  ropes  and  placed 
heavy  stones  on  the  edges  of  the  tent.  For  some  time  I  had 
an  illusion  that  my  good  friend  was  kicking  and  pinching  me 
in  his  restless  sleep,  but  by  feeling  about  in  the  dense  darkness 
I  finally  discovered  that  I  was  getting  all  these  kicks  and  cuffs 
from  the  heavy  tent,  which  was  violently  agitated  by  the  wind. 
I  was  curious  to  know  how  matters  stood  without,  and  with 
some  difficulty  managed  to  peep  from  the  tent,  at  the  risk  of 
being  half  blinded  by  the  whirling  sand;  but  the  weird  scene 
was  fascinating,  and  I  looked  again  and  again,  avoiding  each 
fresh  gust  of  wind.  The  sky  at  times,  when  there  was  a  lull 
in  the  wind  and  the  veil  of  floating  sand  was  less  thick,  was  of 
a  leaden  blue  and  thickly  studded  with  stars;  the  moon,  at  its 


258  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

last  quarter,  was  about  to  disappear  behind  the  rugged  mount- 
ains, but  still  shed  a  ghastly  light  over  the  sand -hills  and 
through  the  roaring  and  bristling  palms,  which  cast  black  shad- 
ows, chasing  each  other  frantically,  like  gnomes  and  sprites  flit- 
ting across  the  gray-white  earth.  Our  mules  and  horses  as- 
sumed the  indefinite  shapes  of  nondescript  black  monsters ; 
some  lying,  others  standing  with  their  noses  to  the  ground, 
and  their  manes  and  tails  waving  wildly  and  mingling  with 
their  flapping  blankets,  which  were  being  blown  over  their 
necks  and  under  their  feet.  Then  would  come  a  sheet  of  sand 
as  if  blasted  from  a  furnace,  obliterating  everything  from  view, 
whipping  the  palm  branches,  and  bending  them  down  until 
they  scratched  and  swished  furiously  across  our  tent.  There 
was  a  general  movement  of  discomfort  under  our  uncertain 

shelter ;  and  Captain   F made  several  fruitless  attempts  to 

light  a  candle,  then  turning  over,  covered  his  head  completely 
and  advised  us  to  do  likewise.  At  four  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, when  all  were  thoroughly  awake  to  the  appreciation  of  our 
condition,  there  was  a  general  burst  of  laughter.  Sand  every- 
where and  in  everything;  our  hair  and  beards  were  gray  with 
it,  our  pockets  full  of  it ;  it  had  drifted  and  sifted  under  the 
edges  of  the  tent,  forming  rolling  billows  and  ripples,  into  which 
we  stumbled  in  the  uncertain  light  of  the  early  dawn.  Then 
the  misery  of  waiting  for  our  coffee,  and  still  longer  for  the 
soldiers  to  pack  the  tents  and  cooking  utensils,  in  order  to  fol- 
low us;  for  we  now  foresaw  the  necessity  of  stopping  on  the 
way  for  luncheon,  and  the  impossibility  of  reaching  Biskra  be- 
fore late  in  the  afternoon.  Five  o'clock  saw  us  on  the  road, 
and  we  tried  to  keep  together  as  much  as  possible.  This  was 
easy  enough  while  we  were  sheltered  by  Lichana,  but  as  soon 
as  we  passed  into  the  open  desert  the  sand  was  blasted  against 
our  faces  and  hands,  pricking  the  skin  like  so  many  needle- 


EXPERIENCE   IN  A   SAND-STORM.  259 

points,  and  our  horses  were  as  much  irritated  as  we.  Turn- 
ing their  backs  to  the  wind,  they  tried  to  go  with  it.  We 
could  not,  at  first,  see  the  necessity  of  submitting  ourselves  to 
this  military  discipline,  forcing  us  to  spend  the  day  under  such 
circumstances;  but  the  other  side  of  the  argument,  and  after  all 
the  more  weighty  one,  was  that  the  sirocco  would  last  for  three 
days  with  more  or  less  violence,  and  we  could  not  spend  that 
amount  of  time  in  a  desert  village,  even  under  the  more  sub- 
stantial shelter  of  a  roof,  without  certain  provisions,  such  as 
bread,  butter,  and  wine,  of  which  our  stock  had  been  calculated 
to  last  three  days,  and  we  had  but  one  ration  left,  and  that  for 
the  breakfast  of  the  third  day. 

During  several  hours'  riding,  when  conversation  was  out  of 
the  question,  we  experienced  a  great  variety  in  the  manner  of 
being  blown  about,  and  found  a  certain  amount  of  comfort  in 
tying  bur  hats  down,  and  our  overcoats  up  over  our  ears,  and  in 
passing  for  some  time  under  the  shelter  of  the  sloping  walls  of 
rock,  hugging  them  as  closely  as  possible  to  avoid  the  wind. 

At  eleven  o'clock  we  halted  for  breakfast,  which  I  would 
willingly  have  gone  without  altogether  rather  than  stop;  for  the 
atmosphere  was  growing  thicker  and  thicker,  and  we  had  not 
seen  the  worst  of  it  yet. 

Our  animals  were  fettered  under  the  bank  of  a  dry  torrent- 
bed,  and  the  necessary  canteens  and  saucepans  were  untied 
from  the  mules'  saddle-bags.  With  a  small  supply  of  roots  and 
fagots  a  fire  was  started,  and  the  last  dish  of  bccuf  a  la  mode, 
destined  for  destruction,  was  placed  over  it  and  screened  from 
wind  by  various  contrivances.  Finally  it  was  considered  hot, 
and  some  of  us  were  helped  on  pewter  plates,  while  others 
dipped  into  the  pan;  but  alas!  another  minute  a  cloud  of  sand 
enveloped  us,  and  our  plates  of  beef  were  no  more.  Our  back 
teeth  had  already  been  playing  the  mill-stone,  with  a  good  per- 


260  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

centage  of  grit  to  work  on  when  we  were  first  served;  but  the 
last  rations  of  sand  were  altogether  too  much.  The  saucepan 
was  wiped  out  with  a  wisp  of  alfa  grass,  and  we  drank  our  wine 
from  it ;  then  it  was  filled  with  water,  which  was  put  on  the 
fire  to  boil  for  the  coffee.  This  was  no  place  for  fastidious- 
ness, and  we  laughed  heartily  at  the  idea  of  our  being  so  indif- 
ferent to  details  which  would  have  disgusted  us  under  ordinary 
circumstances. 

We  were  now 'within  eight  miles  of  our  destination,  but  how 
we  were  to  leave  the  shelter  of  the  hills  and  cross  the  broad  ex- 
panse of  desert  below  us  became  a  serious  .question,  of  comfort 
if  nothing  else.  The  sirocco  steadily  increased,  and  the  plain 
was  now  under  a  drifting  cloud  of  sand  blown  by  a  westerly 
wind ;  we  were  still  on  high  ground,  and  the  sky  was  blue  and 
cloudless  above  us,  but  as  we  went  lower  we  found  ourselves  in 
comparative  darkness  where  we  could  not  see  more  than  a  few 
feet  ahead.  We  had  enveloped  our  heads  with  handkerchiefs, 
leaving  only  one  eye  uncovered.  Our  horses  became  almost 
unmanageable,  and  when  spurred  to  go  faster  than  a  walk  they 
kicked  and  whirled  round  as  if  anxious  to  rid  themselves  of 
their  riders.  Round  their  eyes  they  wore  spectacles  of  sand, 
which  had  gathered  in  a  thick  rope  on  the  lids,  continually 
moistened  by  their  tears.  We  stumbled  into  a  travelling  fam- 
ily, where  the  women  were  crouching  behind  their  camels, 
which  were  being  beaten  but  refused  to  go  on,  and  lay  with 
their  noses  to  the  ground,  where  they  could  breathe  more  easily. 
One  of  the  orderlies  rode  a  vicious  horse,  and  on  two  occasions 
I  barely  escaped  having  my  leg  broken  by  a  kick.  My  sketch- 
ing-stool, hanging  before  my  shin,  was  broken ;  and  had  it  not 
been  there  my  tibia  would  certainly  have  suffered  instead,  and 
I  should  have  been  in  an  unpleasant  predicament,  separated  as 
we  were  from  each  other,  out  of  sight  and  hearing.  I  then 


EXPERIENCE   IN   A   SAND-STORM.  26 1 

went  ahead  of  my  assailant,  but  soon  after  received  another 
kick  directly  under  the  heel  of  my  shoe,  and  such  an  unex- 
pected one  that  I  was  almost  thrown.  We  had  enjoyed  quite 
enough  of  this  kind  of  amusement  at  high  pressure.  Reach- 
ing the  stony  portion  of  the  plain,  and  passing  among  wheat- 
fields,  where  we  could  breathe  again  with  a  little  freedom,  we 
could  see  the  oasis  of  Biskra  waving  before  us.  Our  horses 
started  towards  it  at  full  srallop,  needing  no  coaxing  or  urgin^ 

<_J  i.  O  O  O         O 

Hitherto  we  had  been  guided  only  by  the  direction  of  the 
wind  blowing  on  our  left,  except  when  the  eddies  flurried 
round  us  from  the  mountain-side  with  whirlwinds  that  bewil- 
dered us  occasionally.  We  had  had  ten  hours  of  it,  from  five 
in  the  morning  until  three,  when  we  entered  the  large  court 
of  our  own  hotel,  not  so  anxious  after  that  to  leave  it  for  a 
change  in  realms  unknown,  if  we  were  to  be  exposed  to 
much  travelling  under  similar  circumstances.  Ours  had  been 
a  fair  sample  of  the  sand-storm  familiar  to  us  through  our 
school-books,  that  tell  how  caravans  perish,  lose  their  track, 
and  are  buried  in  the  sands. 

The  first  days  of  May  presaged  the  enervating  summer's 
temperature,  and  began  to  impair  our  energies  and  our  industry, 
which  had  been  at  white-heat  for  the  past  two  months.  Reluc- 
tant, however,  to  leave  the  delicious  quiet  and  easy  life  of  the 
desert,  influenced  by  the  Arabs'  example  of  enjoying  existence, 
leaving  responsibilities  to  take  care  of  themselves,  we  folded 
our  painting  material,  and  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  at 
which  hour  the  heat  was  already  oppressive,  turned  our  backs 
on  the  slumbering  oasis,  and  began  tediously  to  climb  the  long 
road  up  the  mountain-side. 

Although  my  eyesight  is  exceptionally  good,  I  acknowl- 
edged myself  completely  baffled  in  trying  to  distinguish  the 
16 


262  WINTERS   IN   ALGERIA. 

road  from  the  surrounding  rocky  desert.  The  small  lanterns 
seemed  of  little  use  in  lighting  the  road,  but  they  made  a 
good  pair  of  eyes  wherewith  to  stare  the  jackals  out  of  counte- 
nance; and  I  am  still  confident  in  my  belief  that  our  driver 
trusted  to  a  great  extent  in  his  horses  to  keep  to  the  road, 
which  they  could  see,  having  the  lamps  behind  them.  At  early 
dawn  we  saw,  at  a  short  distance  from  our  track,  several  natives 
engaged  in  hiding,  or  withdrawing,  grain  from  their  silos.  The 
silo  is  an  immense  round  vault  underground,  with  a  small 
opening  at  the  surface.  As  there  is  absolutely  no  dampness  at 
a  certain  depth,  it  is  asserted  that  the  grain  —  wheat,  barley, 
oats,  etc. — thrown  loosely  into  the  ground,  is  preserved  in  a  per- 
fect state  for  an  almost  indefinite  length  of  time. 

We  bade  adieu  to  the  country  of  the  sun  at  the  "  Golden 
Gate  "  of  El-Kantara;  and  again,  on  the  high  plateaus  of  Batna, 
we  donned  our  overcoats  for  the  night,  to  continue  our  twenty- 
four  hours'  trip  in  the  diligence  to  Constantine.  There  we  found 
a  hot  sun,  but  in  the  shade  a  glacial  wind  which  swept  the  dust 
of  the  streets  in  clouds  over  the  yawning  precipice.  Our  rail- 
way-train descended  the  steep  incline  towards  Philippeville. 
Constantine  faded  into  the  sky,  with  its  palisades  and  lofty 
walls  looming  higher  and  higher,  and  gilded  by  the  setting  sun, 
as  we  sank  lower  and  lower  into  the  gathering  gloom  of  the 
valley,  now  dark  with  trees  and  the  full  verdure  of  spring. 


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THE   STUDENT'S    HISTORY   OF   GREECE. 

The  Student's  History  of  Greece.  A  History  of  Greece  from  the 
Earliest  Times  to  the  Roman  Conquest.  With  Supplementary 
Chapters  on  the  History  of  Literature  and  Art.  By  WM.  SMITH, 
D.C.L.,  LL.D.  Illustrated.  I2mo,  Cloth,  $i  25. 

THE   STUDENT'S   HISTORY   OF   ROME. 

The  Student's  History  of  Rome.  A  History  of  Rome  from  the 
Earliest  Times  to  the  Establishment  of  the  Empire.  With  Chap- 
ters on  the  History  of  Literature  and  Art.  By  H.  G.  LlDDELL, 
D.D.,  Dean  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford.  Illustrated.  I2mo,  Cloth, 
$i  25. 


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CARTHAGE  AND    HER    REMAINS. 

Carthage  and  Her  Remains :  Being  an  Account  of  the  Excavations 
and  Researches  on  the  Site  of  the  Phoenician  Metropolis,  in  Africa 
and  other  Adjacent  Places.  Conducted  under  the  Auspices  of  Her 
Majesty's  Government.  By  Dr.  N.  DAVIS,  F.R.G.S.  Profusely 
Illustrated  with  Maps,  Wood -cuts,  Chromo- lithographs,  &c.  8vo, 
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ART    HINTS. 

Art  Hints.  Architecture,  Sculpture,  and  Painting.  By  JAMES 
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THE    MIKADO'S    EMPIRE. 

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to  1872  A.D. — Book  II.  Personal  Experiences,  Observations,  and 
Studies  in  Japan,  1870-1874.  By  WM.  ELLIOT  GRIFFIS,  A.M.,  late 
of  the  Imperial  University  of  Tokio,  Japan.  Fifth  Edition,  revised. 
Copiously  Illustrated.  8vo,  Cloth,  $4  oo  ;  Half  Calf,  $6  25. 

DONNELLY'S   ATLANTIS. 

Atlantis :  The  Antediluvian  World.  By  IGNATIUS  DONNELLY. 
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CARICATURE   AND    OTHER    COMIC   ART. 

Caricature  and  other  Comic  Art,  in  all  Times  and  Many  Lands.  By 
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LIFE    OF    BENJAMIN    ROBERT    HAYDON. 

Life  of  Benjamin  Robert  Haydon,  Historical  Painter,  from  his  Au- 
tobiography and  Journals.  Edited  and  Compiled  by  TOM  TAYLOR. 
2  vols.,  I2mo,  Cloth,  $3  oo. 

BIBLE   LANDS. 

Bible  Lands :  Their  Modern  Customs  and  Manners  Illustrative  of 
Scripture.  By  the  Rev.  HENRY  J.  VAN-LENNEP,  D.D.  Illustrated 
with  upwards  of  350  Wood -engravings  and  Two  Colored  Maps. 
8vo,  Cloth,  $5  oo ;  Sheep,  $6  oo ;  Half  Morocco,  $8  oo. 

FROM    EGYPT   TO    PALESTINE. 

From  Egypt  to  Palestine,  through  Sinai,  the  Wilderness,  and  the 
South  Country.  By  S.  C.  BARTLETT,  D.D.,  LL.D.  Illustrated. 
8vo,  Cloth,  $3  50. 

THE   NORTH   AMERICANS   OF   ANTIQUITY. 

The  North  Americans  of  Antiquity.  Their  Origin,  Migrations,  and 
Type  of  Civilization  Considered.  By  JOHN  T.  SHORT.  Illustrated. 
8vo,  Cloth,  $3  oo. 


Valuable  and  Interesting  Works  for  Art  Students. 


THE   LAND   AND   THE    BOOK. 

The  Land  and  the  Book;  or,  Biblical  Illustrations  Drawn  from  the 
Manners  and  Customs,  the  Scenes  and  Scenery,  of  the  Holy  Land. 
By  WILLIAM  M.  THOMSON,  D.D.  In  Three  Volumes.  Copiously 
Illustrated.  Square  8vo,  Ornamental  Cloth,  $6  oo;  Sheep,  $7  oo; 
Half  Morocco,  $8  50;  Full  Morocco,  Gilt  Edges,  $10  oo  per  Vol- 
ume. ( The  Volumes  sold  separately^) 

Vol.  I.  SOUTHERN  PALESTINE  AND  JERUSALEM.  (140  Illustra- 
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Vol.  II.  CENTRAL  PALESTINE  AND  PHCENICIA.  (130  Illustra- 
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Illustrations  and  Maps.) 

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CESNOLA'S   CYPRUS. 

Cyprus ;  its  Ancient  Cities,  Tombs,  and  Temples.  A  Narrative  of 
Researches  and  Excavations  during  Ten  Years'  Residence  in  that 
Island.  By  General  LOUIS  PALMA  Dl  CESNOLA,  Mem.  of  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Sciences,  Turin  ;  Hon.  Mem.  of  the  Royal  Society  of 
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acter," and  "  Inscriptions  in  the  Phoenician  Character."  With  Por- 
trait, Maps,  and  400  Illustrations.  Third  Edition.  8vo,  Cloth,  Gilt 
Tops  and  Uncut  Edges,  $7  50. 

SPANISH   VISTAS. 

Spanish  Vistas.  By  GEORGE  PARSONS  LATHROP.  Illustrated  by 
CHARLES  S.  REINHART.  8vo,  Ornamental  Cover,  Gilt  Edges,  $3  oo. 

HIGGINSON'S  LARGER  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
A  Larger  History  of  the  United  States  of  America  to  the  Close  of 
President  Jackson's  Administration.  By  THOMAS  WENTWORTH 
HlGGlNSON.  Illustrated  by  Maps,  Plans,  Portraits,  and  other  En- 
gravings, pp.  xii.,  470.  8vo,  Cloth,  $3  50. 

THE   LIFE   AND   HABITS   OF   WILD  ANIMALS. 

The  Life  and  Habits  of  Wild  Animals.  Illustrated  from  Designs 
by  JOSEPH  WOLF.  Engraved  by  J.  W.  and  EDWARD  WHYMPER. 
With  Descriptive  Letter-press  by  DANIEL  GIRAUD  ELIOT,  F.L.S., 
F.Z.S.  pp.  122.  4to,  Ornamental  Cloth,  Gilt  Edges,  $5  oo. 

ANCIENT   AMERICA. 

Ancient  America,  in  Notes  on  American  Archaeology.  By  JOHN 
D.  BALDWIN,  A.M.  With  Illustrations.  i2mo,  Cloth,  $2  oo. 


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